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James Collins has spoken of his relief after Faversham ended their long wait for a win.
The Lilywhites claimed their first victory in 12 matches after beating bottom side East Grinstead 2-0 on Saturday.
Victory, which came courtesy of goals from Donvieve Jones and Kelvin Ogboe, banished any relegation fears.
“It’s a relief, I can tell you,” said Town boss Collins.
“I think we were on a hiding to nothing in the sense we were expected to win, so it was a pressure game.
“I thought I’d be on a high to get the win but it was just relief, really.
“If we’d lost I think we’d have been in a relegation fight but this keeps us clear of it.
“We’re 18 points clear of East Grinstead now.
“They’ve got four games in hand but they’ve got to win them, and we’re eight clear of Ramsgate and 10 clear of Three Bridges, so I think we should be OK now.
“The objective when I came in was to stay up.
“We’ve taken 15 points from 20 games, which obviously isn’t great, but we’ve done what we needed to do.”
With Faversham effectively safe, Collins has challenged his side to push on and beat last season’s points tally of 37.
They need 10 points from eight games to achieve that, starting with Three Bridges away in Isthmian South East this Saturday.
The Sussex side were thrashed 8-1 by Whitehawk last weekend but had goalkeeper Kieron Thorp sent off in the first minute.
Collins said: “I don’t want to look too far ahead but my personal target is to beat last year’s total.
“We’ll have to go some to do that, based on our current form, but it’s good to have something to aim for.
“I’ve not seen Three Bridges play but they’ve been in a similar situation to us and it’s not nice when you’re not winning games.
“We’ve given ourselves breathing space but they need to win so it’s a cup final for them, I would suggest.
“That comes with its own dangers – we have to make sure we’re as up for it as them – but we do go there with a little less pressure.”
Former Charlton and Wycombe striker Paul Hayes is the latest player to leave Faversham, joining Collins’ old club Chatham in Southern Counties East.
Two other Town players have moved up a level to the Isthmian Premier, with midfielder Osman Proni signing for Merstham and left-back Matt Parsons snapped up by Corinthian Casuals.
