Jermaine Darlington says Herne Bay have got to learn to get out of the blocks quicker in matches.

Bay were sunk by a goal inside the opening two minutes against Bostik South rivals Sittingbourne on Tuesday and the Bay joint boss says it is not the first time they have been caught cold this season.

Darlington added that it was particularly disappointing given how well Bay’s young squad had played in the first half of Saturday’s 2-0 FA Cup defeat at Bostik Premier Margate.

He said: “We conceded after only two minutes which was disappointing but it’s happened to us before this season where we’ve either conceded early or gone close to doing so.

“Credit to Sittingbourne, they had done their homework on us and started much quicker.

“For the first 20 minutes they were in control which was disappointing. I could understand it if we’d not played well on Saturday but we did play well at Margate and should have been coming into this game with a bit of confidence.

“Why it keeps happening (the slow starts) we’re not sure but John (joint boss John Embery) and I are doing everything we can to get them to realise that we can’t keep starting like that.

“Tuesday was a game we didn’t want to lose. Sittingbourne had already beaten us once and we definitely did not want to lose six points to them this season.”

Bay, 11th in Bostik South, take a break from league action on Saturday when they travel to Cheshunt in the preliminary round of the FA Trophy.

They beat the Bostik North side 5-1 in their final pre-season friendly at Winch’s Field but Darlington says that won’t have any bearing on Saturday’s clash in Hertfordshire.

He said: “We played them pre-season but since then their team could have totally changed.
“We haven’t as yet been able to pay them any attention but we’ll approach it as seriously as any other game. The main thing is we need to make sure we get ourselves right.”

Striker Junior Aikhionbare saw red in the closing stages of the Sittingbourne defeat following an incident with the home side’s Ben Gorham but the striker does not start his ban until next Tuesday when Bay travel to Whyteleafe.