Manager Steve Lovell was delighted with Herne Bay’s much-needed derby win at Hythe - but knows it will count for nothing if they don’t back it up.

Bay boosted their hopes of a top-five Isthmian South East finish with a 3-1 victory at Reachfields on Tuesday through goals from midfielders Scott Heard and Tom Hanfrey, alongside forward Gil Carvalho.

The result saw Lovell’s team respond after their 2-1 home defeat to Sevenoaks last weekend when they finished with 10 men - defender Frankie Smith dismissed for two bookings just before Oaks got an 83rd-minute winner.

Carvalho had earlier cancelled out Sevenoaks’ first-half opening goal in front of a crowd of 508.

With four points separating seventh-placed Bay from Chichester, fourth in the table, Lovell knows his troops have to build on their midweek win ahead of an Easter double-header against East Grinstead and Ashford.

He said: “That win on Tuesday will count for nothing if we don’t get anything on Saturday, so we have got to make sure we do that.

“The performances haven’t been that bad lately.

“Even against Sevenoaks, we went down to 10 men and lost the game, but there was nothing in that game. We just have to finish games off.

“It’s important, in the next two games, we put in performances which will get us [more] points.”

Lovell reminded Herne Bay’s players they had collected 16 points out of a possible 18 at the start of the year - having ended 2023 with back-to-back losses to title-chasing Ramsgate and Burgess Hill - ahead of their derby at Hythe.

“We had lost two on the spin and, not long after that, we went on a run of four wins,” he said.

“We have had a few draws and defeats - we had only won one in the last six before Tuesday - so I said it would be nice to have another good run. If we can do that, we will be in a great position.

“It was a good start to it but we have got a couple of games over the weekend, which are really important.

“We need to take maximum points from them if we are going to continue pushing for those top-five places.”

Bay struck late twice in awful conditions through Carvalho and Hanfrey against Steve Watt’s Cannons - playing through a frantic schedule - after home substitute Kane Phillip equalised following Heard’s first-half goal.

Lovell said: “Steve has done well down there, getting them through all of these games - and they still have got a few to go. It must be difficult.

“Fair play to them because they had a right go. I thought, in the first half, we really were on top and their keeper (Lewis Briggs) made a couple of great saves to keep them in the game.

“Then, in the second half, they had a go at us and were the better side for the first 20 minutes.

“Obviously, they got one goal but couldn’t get any more and we just grew stronger as the game went on.

“We created a few opportunities at the end and took a couple. It was a good three points there.

“Any three points there is a good three points because it’s a hard place to go.”

East Grinstead could still be sucked into a relegation dogfight ahead of Saturday’s fixture at Winch’s Field.

“Everyone is fighting down the bottom and up the top,” Lovell said.

“The teams in the middle of the league, they’re the ones you would like to play, really, because their seasons are sort of over.

“When you’re playing against teams fighting to avoid relegation, they really do battle. It’s going to be tough.

“Even facing Ashford on Monday is going to be tough - but we will take every game as it comes.

“We just need to maintain what we did on Tuesday.”

While Smith is suspended for the East Grinstead game, he’s set to return at Homelands 48 hours later. Ashford are now managed by Alan Walker after ex-Bay boss Kevin Watson was recently sacked after less than a season in charge.

Lovell said: “We have got enough players to put a team and a squad out.

“Me and Mark (Lovell, his assistant) will sit down and discuss which way we’re going to go on Saturday.

“It is a squad. Dan Carrington came in on Tuesday and so did Finlay [Whitton] and Tom.

“There were three changes from Saturday and they all did really well.”