Minster won the battle of the top two in the Kent League Premier Division to take over at the summit from beaten side Hayes.

An 18-run victory saw the clubs swap places in the county’s top division but captain Ed Moore knows there is a long way to go - particularly with injury issues and unavailability to deal with.

Moore said: “It has always been my message and the way I speak to my team to take every game like a cup semi-final. Never get ahead of ourselves.

“Even though we have beaten the [previous] No.1 team, it is still important we rock up on Saturday [at home to Sandwich Town] and get the win.

“This was just one hurdle we have overcome and it doesn’t mean we have won the league, we have to make sure we stay focused on the process.”

Moore was looking for a performance himself and he delivered 83 runs and a 108-run partnership with in-form Aron Nijjar (77).

Greg Lamb added an unbeaten 51 after Minster were put into bat, setting Hayes a target of 286. The hosts made 267.

Moore said: “It was one of those games where you want to perform individually and more importantly it tests the strength of your team when you play against that kind of opposition.

“It was nice to lead from the front and get some runs under my belt. Hopefully I can get some form at the right stage of the season and drive us through for the rest.

“Aron Nijjar batted extremely well and it is always nice, when you are looking to anchor the innings, when a middle-order batter can play freely the way he did. He scored quickly and came in with really good intent.

“I think he was the man-of-the-match on the day with the way he batted and constructed his innings - he took a lot of pressure off me as well and big credit to him.

“Greg Lamb is our experienced campaigner, he has played international cricket before, he is a quality player, a dark horse in the background, always doing the hard yards for the team.

“It was nice that he got his milestone to show that he is a really valuable guy for us.”

Moore admitted he had to take care of his bowling attack with his seamers nursing knocks.

He said: “We knew it was a really competitive total, we made sure we bowled really well in the first 10 and knew they would be under pressure to catch up. We always knew we had to bowl well because they have some dangerous players and can take the game away from you.

“The result shows the game was quite close but we actually were pretty much in control for most of the innings and we went a little bit light on our seamers, who were struggling with niggles. I gave the ball mostly to our spinners to make sure we stay nice and fit and strong.

“There was some mixed emotion around after the game, we felt we could have won by more at the end, I made sure we won the game and stayed injury-free. The margin could have been bigger, but we are really happy, we enjoyed a beer afterwards, it is good spirits all around.

“It was important for me to make sure we stay focused on not just one game but are planning ahead. We already had one of our opening bowlers missing with injury, others had niggles and over-bowling them would have been pointless.”

Moore has to deal with some unavailability this week, on top of those niggles, so they will be challenged at home against second-bottom Sandwich.

“They are an unpredictable team,” said the skipper. “They can beat any team, they haven’t had it their way this season but they are a much better outfit than their results show.

“We need to make sure we rock up again.

"We are missing some key players but it is a nice opportunity for some other lads to come in and make a statement.”