Ryan Maxwell celebrated his first anniversary as Sittingbourne manager with an emphatic victory - thanks to a player he has high hopes for.

Mitchell May scored a hat-trick in a 4-0 Isthmian South East home win over Beckenham on Saturday, with Chris Harris also on target.

It was the perfect result to mark a year in charge, with Bourne going from third-bottom to third-top in just 12 months.

Maxwell gave a glowing assessment of young May.

He said: “It’s fantastic for Mitchell to score his first hat-trick for the club. He was a Sunday League player.

“I saw him play for a Step 6 or Step 7 side, Dunmow, when I was at Braintree and they were groundsharing.

“I just saw this kid move extremely well, a completely natural footballer.

“When I was told he hadn’t been coached, I said there’s definitely a player there and he’s developed and he’s a classy finisher.

“He’s 6ft3in, he’s left-footed, and he’s still growing into his frame. He’s going to be a big man.

“His football intelligence is natural, he’s got a good football IQ and I think there’s a lot to come from him.

“The potential is boundless. He’s physically fantastic and technically excellent so what Mitchell does will be up to him.

“It can work both ways when you work with someone who’s never been coached.

“Where it’s all new to them they might not be receptive to it.

“On the other side of the coin, if they are receptive, you’ve got a blank canvas and improvements and adjustments can be made pretty quickly. Mitchell is certainly the latter.

“He asks the right questions, listens and tries to put in place what you’ve asked him to do.

“Che Stadhart (assistant manager) has to take credit for that, too, being an ex-forward giving him the bitesize bits of information that he’s absorbing well.”

It’s been a year to remember for Maxwell who held a Q&A with Brickies fans in the Woodstock bar after the Beckenham game.

The club have gone from battling relegation to fighting for promotion and he’s delighted with their progress.

“I’m very pleased with how it’s gone in the main,” said Maxwell, whose team upped their game against Beckenham after a first half that lacked intensity despite being 2-0 up.

“I still feel we’re a bit short of where we deserve to be in terms of points, with decisions that have gone against us, but I’m a believer that hopefully these things will level themselves out.

“The fans have been great and, yes, they are pretty happy, but I’m just doing my job.

“It’s what we were brought here for and I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do and I’m enjoying it.

“We’re all enjoying it as a management team.

“We know we’re at a good club, with great people and the fans are included in that.

“It makes it enjoyable and we’re giving our all because we’ve got good people around us and we want the best for them.

“I’m not the type to sit on the fence. I say what I feel and we were always going to be here to challenge.

“We finished 11th last year after taking over at third-bottom and our form was excellent at the end last season, 11 unbeaten out of the last 12 games, and we wanted to take that into this season.

“We’ve had a few things to deal with, a few bumps in the road. It hasn’t been plain sailing.

“With a bit of luck here and there, we should be six or seven points better off.

“We’re in and around where I wanted us to be but we’ve still got room for improvement and we’re still waiting for a bit more luck to swing back our way. There’s a long way to go and everything to play for.”

Sittingbourne visit Broadbridge Heath on Saturday (3pm) and Littlehampton on Tuesday (7.45pm).