Boss Steve King hopes Deal’s maiden Isthmian South East win this season can help kick-start their league campaign.

King’s Hoops picked up their first points at the fourth attempt as they earned a 2-1 derby victory at Herne Bay on Bank Holiday Monday.

It’s been a tough start for Deal - edged out 3-2 at home by last term’s play-off semi-finalists Merstham on Saturday despite goals from midfielder Tom Chapman and forward Rory Smith - with the club also having played early frontrunners Faversham and much-fancied Sittingbourne.

“We needed to win a game of football in the league,” said King. “Everyone needs that first three points.

“When you’ve not won a league game, the longer that takes, the more desperate you get for it. We were conscious Herne Bay have had a good start but we’ve got a couple of wins in cup games so it’s not like we were in terrible form.

“It was important we got that league win and I felt we were full value for it.

“It really has kick-started our season after some really tough fixtures.

"I know it’s early but, of the four teams we’ve played, they’re all in the top six.”

Summer recruit Mef Esumobi put the Hoops ahead at Winch’s Field and, although midfielder Harvey Brand equalised for Bay, midfielder Ben Chapman claimed the game’s winning goal.

For striker Esumobi, who joined from Corinthian, it was a first competitive club goal.

King said: “It’s been a bit frustrating, really, for him.

"He came on at Hilltop in the first FA Cup game and he got injured inside two minutes.

“Having done well in pre-season, he’s had a disrupted start. We threw him on, on Saturday, as we pushed for a goal.

“He’s still probably only at about 70 per cent.

"It’s nice to see we have got a variety of scorers and all of our forwards have scored.”

Defender Jacob Strouts - the brother of Folkestone forward Josh Strouts and the son of ex-Dover and Maidstone midfielder Jimmy Strouts - has played in the last two matches after joining from Ashford.

“He brings a bit of physical size,” said King, who played Claudio Boakye-Sarfo in goal against Merstham with James Tonkin best man at a wedding.

“I coached him when he was a kid. He came in a couple of years ago and he was just a bit raw.

“Ashford have got an abundance of centre-halves - and experienced ones, too. To be fair to Ashford, I think they recognised him coming to us would help his development.

“Jacob’s 6ft 3in or 6ft 4in so he’s a good size.

"He’s not the finished article, but he’s got the dynamics to do well for us.”

The Hoops will host Combined Counties Premier Division South Cobham, who they beat 2-0 in the FA Vase last 32 in January 2024, in the FA Cup first qualifying round on Saturday.

Cobham have already beaten Broadbridge Heath 3-1 and Margate - 1-0 in a replay last Tuesday after a 2-2 draw - to reach this stage.

“It was a really tough game,” recalled King, who is due to assess midfielder Macca Murray’s thigh injury.

“It was a typical January day. It was cold and what I call winter football.

“It’s going to be a really tough game. We’ve not even given it a thought at the minute where all of our focus was on picking up league points.

“We have got a few knocks. But we’ve only reached this round once in the Covid season in the last few seasons.

“I think they had a good win on Monday - they scored five (beating Guildford City 5-2) - so we’ll be treating it like a league game.”