by Kevin Redsull

Herne Bay manager Simon Halsey praised his side’s battling qualities after they opened their account in Ryman League Division 1 South with Tuesday’s 1-0 win at Hythe Town.

Halsey, right, and his players had lost their opening game in their new league 1-0 to Tooting & Mitcham on Saturday, but Bay produced the perfect response three days later thanks to Danny Williams’ 87th-minute strike.

Halsey said: "We knew we had to roll our sleeves up and slug it out toe-to-toe with Hythe at their place, otherwise they would roll all over us.

"We said we had to win every header and every tackle and the lads matched them all the way."

So much so, that Hythe were unable to create one shot on target all night despite having the majority of possession, while Williams could easily have added one or two more goals to his late strike – a fact which also delighted Halsey.

The Bay boss said: "Danny was disappointed with himself for not taking any of the two or three chances he had on Saturday and apologised afterwards. But I said to him the best apology he could make would be to score against Hythe and he’s done just that."

Bay welcome Folkestone in the FA Cup preliminary round on Saturday.