Danny Kedwell’s first goal since turning 40 was a special moment for the Chatham assistant manager.

Kedwell, who celebrated his milestone birthday on August 3, struck five minutes into Chats’ 2-0 Isthmian Premier win over Potters Bar on Saturday.

It was a second appearance of the season for the former Gillingham striker, who was back in the dugout on Monday as Chats won 5-2 at Dulwich Hamlet to maintain their 100% start and go top of the league.

“In my head I’ve retired but I’ve never announced it,” said Kedwell, who played the final eight games of last season to help Chats win the Isthmian South East title.

“I don’t think it’ll be long because the body does hurt.

“To be playing and scoring at 40 is a nice thing.

“I’ve only played two games this season, so a one-in-two goal ratio isn’t bad.

“If I keep that up whenever I play, I’ll have had a good season.

“With the quality we’ve got at this club, I will get chances.

“‘I’m a different sort of player now. I’m not going to run in behind any more but we have a game plan for when I do play and a game plan for when I don’t play.

“It’s good to have Plan A and Plan B because not many teams can do that but we have that in our locker.

“I’ve just got to try and keep myself fit. It’s hard when you’re training on Thursday and playing on Saturday.

“It’s no wonder people retire at 35, 36, 37 and not at 40, 41, 42.

“When the day does come it’s going to be hard but I’ll be OK because I’ve got football all around me.

“I’ve got my boys and my training ground that I built in Gravesend, where I take the Ebbsfleet scholars, and I’ve got Chatham.

“Sometimes people retire and they’re like ‘What do I do now?

“It’s hard when all you’ve done since seven is play football and all you’ve ever known is football, football, football.”

Ashley Nzala added Chatham’s clincher against Potters Bar in front of another 1,500-plus crowd at Maidstone Road.

Chats were back in action 48 hours later at pre-season title favourites Dulwich.

Kedwell didn’t feature but they managed fine without him as Jack Evans’ hat-trick and a Jamie Yila double secured a fifth straight win.

“To be fair, Monday was the best game we’ve played,” said Kedwell.

“The boys were up for it. We knew it was going to be tough.

“Dulwich are a big side and they’ve got some very good players who have played a lot of games in the Conference and Conference South.

“The good thing is we’ve got a squad where we can rotate over two games in three days, so we had a lot of fresh legs out there. We got the rotation bang on, really.

“With me at 40, after playing on Saturday, there was no way I was playing again on Monday.

“I’d have given it a go if I’d been asked.

“If someone asked me to run out there with one leg, I’d have done it.

“That’s just the way I’ve been all my career but, like I said, we’ve got a very good squad here and we were able to rotate.

“Dulwich have got three big lads at the back and if I was playing it would have played into their hands more.

“We went with more pace against them and it worked.”

Chats are the only side in the division with a 100% record after five matches.

They’re going for a third successive promotion but Kedwell has warned against getting carried away.

He said: “It’s been a very good start but that’s all it is - a start.

“It’s helped that we’ve kept a lot of players from last year.

“Sometimes you go up and change the whole squad because you think people might not be able to step up but we haven’t done that.

“We’ve kept the core of the group and added more quality.

“We aren’t getting carried away. Football’s a funny old game.

“You can lose a game somewhere and then you end up searching for your next win.

“We’re taking it game by game but it’s a really good place to be.

“There’s a buzz around the place and the boys are brilliant.

“In all my time in football, wherever I’ve had success, there’s always been a good changing room.”

Chatham are in FA Cup action this Saturday (3pm), hosting Ramsgate in the First Qualifying Round.