Herne Bay chairman Bill Dordoy admits a win at Aylesbury in the FA Trophy on Saturday would do wonders for the club, both on and off the pitch.

Bay’s 4-2 home defeat to Phoenix Sports on Tuesday left them bottom of Bostik South East, with just one win from their opening seven matches.

Mr Dordoy admits the stop-start nature of Bay’s season has not helped their form, nor has it helped the club’s cash flow.

Bay have been left without a fixture for the past three Saturdays and Tuesday’s game with Phoenix was their first at Winch’s Field since September 1.

The lack of fixtures, particularly at weekends, has had a detrimental effect on the club’s income and chairman Mr Dordoy admits it has been a challenging period.

He said: “For the last three Saturdays we’ve not had a game and it’s been frustrating.

“The Phoenix match was originally scheduled for a Saturday but they were due to be in the FA Cup.

“As it happens, they were thrown out (for an administrative error) but the decision happened too late to do anything about it.

“Saturday home matches are important to us because midweek games are never as good.

“We normally average just over 200 on a Saturday but that figure can go down by 50-100 on a Tuesday. The bar takings also go down because no one wants to drink because they’ve got work the next day.

“We don’t have a major sponsor so we rely on gate receipts, bar takings and the efforts of a sturdy few to keep things going.”

Mr Dordoy said the financial situation at Winch’s Field has been exacerbated by the fact that 10 of Bay’s squad are on contracts.

The club took the step last season to head off persistent interest from rivals but it does mean Bay must pay the players, albeit at the ‘basic’ rate even when they have not played.

Mr Dordoy said: “It was getting ridiculous, we were having clubs turn up at virtually every game.

“I think we had 21 approaches for our players last season and three did leave.”

A win in Saturday’s preliminary round tie would earn Bay £3,000 and also raise morale within the camp.

Mr Dordoy added: “They look as if they’re in a similar position to us. The £3,000 would definitely come in handy, it would also be good to start picking up a few results.”