Sittingbourne manager Ryan Maxwell on their 4-2 Isthmian South East play-off semi-final against Merstham and facing Burgess Hill in the final

Ryan Maxwell hailed his “fantastic” Sittingbourne players after reaching the Isthmian South East play-off final.

The Brickies beat Merstham 4-2 in the semi-final at Woodstock on Tuesday night.

They host Burgess Hill on Friday (7.45pm) with the winners joining champions Ramsgate in the Isthmian Premier.

All the goals came in the second half in front of almost 1,000 fans as Sittingbourne wore down their opponents.

Top scorer Mitchell May broke the deadlock midway through the half and set up Ryan Kingsford two minutes later.

A flurry of goals at the end saw Brickies striker Ade Azeez score either side of a freak Korrey Henry effort as the hosts went 4-1 up before Fin Johnson added Merstham’s second.

“The boys were fantastic,” said Sittingbourne manager Maxwell.

“I thought we should have come in 2-0 up - we didn’t - and it was 0-0 at half-time.

“You don’t always get what you deserve right away but I had full faith, and so did the staff.

“I said, ‘Go and play the game, if we lose, I’ll take it on the chin, but go and do what we do at our best’.

“I just tried to relax them a little bit.

Report: Sittingbourne 4-2 Merstham

“We needed a little bit more composure, an extra pass, just be themselves a little bit more and I think that was the key.

“They expressed themselves and the result should have been 4-0 or 4-1.

“I’m actually at fault for one of the goals because the ball wasn’t going out of play and I shouted to leave it.

“I was really impressed with us in the second half and that’s what we can do to anybody.”

Runners-up Sittingbourne had finished 23 points clear of fifth-placed Merstham in the league and were unbeaten at home.

But Maxwell, whose side lost to Three Bridges in last season’s semi-finals, knew none of that