The arrival of experienced centre-half Matt Bourne has been hailed by manager Scott Porter as a massive plus for Hollands & Blair.

Bourne made his debut on Saturday to help Blair to a 2-0 win over VCD Athletic in the Kent Senior Trophy.

He had just quit Phoenix Sports where he had been playing regularly for the Isthmian South East side. He counts Chatham, Dover, Sittingbourne and Faversham among his former clubs, making close to 500 appearances for the Lilywhites.

Porter moved swiftly to bolster his defence after losing 3-0 at home to Whitstable Town last midweek, a game which followed a 5-2 loss at Faversham.

He said: “It was definitely important to bounce back after the two defeats. I think the Faversham one is what it is, we have to let that one go with the quality they have and the players, but I was hugely disappointed with the Whitstable one.

“We got picked off, we weren’t strong enough, too weak in places, outfought in midfield and got punished from a couple of mistakes. Getting Matt Bourne in was a massive plus.

“I had to go with young Augusto Chiari for the Whitstable game and he didn’t put a foot wrong, he gave the penalty away but it wasn’t a penalty. He was a massive positive out of that performance.

“We had a management meeting straight after to see what we wanted to do and the big thing was to get Matt Bourne in.

“I had an inkling he was leaving Phoenix through travel commitments and I reacted on it. We got it over the line on Friday and he is massively important. I need proper centre-halves.

“Rob Gilman is a proper centre-half, young Gus is going to be a good centre-half while Matt Bourne is proven. You need to keep clean sheets first, work hard, do the basics, and we went back to 3-5-2 and what I am comfortable with.”

Porter put Harvey Welford up top alongside Dean Grant and he scored twice on Saturday. It’s a partnership he hopes can continue to bring results.

Porter said: “We got two goals for Harvey, a clean sheet and it was a gritty performance, a Hollands & Blair performance. We were in people’s faces, worked hard, were hard to break down and that is what I want from my teams.

“Harvey was away for most of pre-season and struggled with his groin. We had to leave him out for a couple of weeks but now he has the bit between his teeth and he can work on a partnership with Dean Grant, which should benefit us.”

Dale Davis has left the club for family commitments and Porter is hopeful Chiari can make the grade, having played in their last two games.

Porter said: “Bourney is an old fashioned centre-half who knows what to do week in, week out, does the same job for 90 minutes and him Gilman, and Gus, they did it on Saturday and we got our rewards.

“You aren’t going to get two better examples to learn off than Rob Gilman and Matt Bourne and he (Chiari) is definitely one we want to work with.

“In the last two games he has shown he could be a good player. We need to keep monitoring him and keep him involved, he will learn and get better.”

Blair play North Greenford this Saturday in the FA Vase First Round.

“I love all cup competitions,” Porter said. “We are not going to win the league, we’re not stupid, we want to get into the play-offs but we also want to get into a cup final.

“We are still in three cup competitions and it was good to get through against VCD. A couple of big teams in Lydd and Deal went out and it gives everyone else an opportunity. The positive and pleasing thing was that we bounced back from two defeats.”

Middlesex side Greenford play in the Combined Counties League Premier Division North.

“I have been there once before, with Hythe in the FA Cup and we lost,” Porter recalled.

“It is a long way, on a coach, but a coach trip is only good when you win.

“We will have a ring about for information on them but I don’t read too much into other teams and will just worry about ourselves.”