Sittingbourne expect to lose young players to Kent rivals Herne Bay after their under-21 bosses accepted the top job at Winch's Field.

Jermaine Darlington and John Embery have been named joint-managers at Bay, succeeding Sam Denly, who quit at the end of the season.

The pair ran a hugely successful youth set-up, many of whom broke into the first team at Sittingbourne from the under-18s and under-21s.

Among those likely to leave is teenage striker Jake Embery, the son of John, and a player earmarked for a big role by Brickies boss Nick Davis.

Brickies secretary John Pitts said: "John and Jermaine have wanted a first-team job ever since they joined us, so I'm not surprised.

"Everyone wants to progress and I'm sure they will do well at Herne Bay. Good luck to them - they deserve their chance.

"I'm sure they will take a number of the youngsters with them.

"They've had that team for a long time, going back to Bearsted before moving them over to Sittingbourne.

"We've put a team in the Ryman development league next season and I'd imagine we'll have to withdraw that by the time they've decimated the team but there's not a lot we can do."