Frankie Smith made a welcome Herne Bay return as they secured their Isthmian South East status for next season on Saturday.

The defender, Bay’s players’ player-of-the-season last term, came on for fellow youngster Monty Saunders in the final 10 minutes of last weekend’s 4-1 home victory over Erith Town.

It was a first senior appearance since January 11 for Smith, who had only returned to fitness briefly over the festive period, having been out since late October.

Bay boss James Collins, who tried to sign Smith when he was at Bowers & Pitsea, said: “It was good to have him back.

“He was a player I knew about before I came to the club and left-back is an area where we have been short.

"Fenn Roberts has come in from the under-23s and Monty has played there, even though he’s more of a winger.

“Frankie has been out for a long time, but we need to be careful with him and not push him too hard.”

Smith’s return comes ahead of a key summer as he aims to ensure he is fully fit and firing for the 2025/26 campaign.

“He just needs to make sure he’s fully-fit,” admitted Collins. “We know he has been working hard.

“If he can get in a couple of games before the end of the season, that’s fantastic. But if not, we don’t need to rush him back.”

Two-goal Kane Haysman, top scorer Mike Salako and midfielder Ethan Smith did the damage at Winch’s Field against Erith.

Collins reflected: “It was a good win.

"In the first half, it was quite open, but we were just more clinical in front of goal. We gave up too many chances ourselves, but we took our chances well.

"Then in the second half, we controlled the game quite well.”

One-time Gillingham midfielder Haysman, now 29, is on 15 goals this term.

Collins said: “He has been brilliant since I came in.

“I left him out for a couple of games - probably unfairly - but he just went and played for the under-23s and scored for them, and there were no moans or groans from him.

“I’m really pleased that he got his two goals.”

While Haysman has impressed this season, it’s unclear exactly where he has been at his most effective because of his versatility.

He is most well-known as an attacking midfielder, but has played in forward areas, too.

“We have tried a few things,” explained Collins. “We have had Kane Rowland and Mike up top, we have had Mike up top on his own, and we have had Mike and Manny (Emmanuel Oluwasemo) up top.

“I think Kane Haysman has played in all 10 games, even though he hasn’t started them all. He probably knows where he’s best-suited, but we need to look at our options.”

Their win against the Dockers ensured Herne Bay will remain at Step 4 next term.

Collins said: “When I came in, it was about trying to build for next season but, also, being mindful of the fact that we needed to win some more games in order to stay up. It’s nice to have done that with games to spare.

“But we need to make sure we maintain our standards because we have still got three games to play.

"We still need to win them for the supporters and so we have a good feeling going into next season.”

Herne Bay will travel to seventh-placed Three Bridges this Saturday before their last home game of the campaign against Deal on Easter Monday.

Collins said: “I want us to finish as strongly as we can. It’s still an opportunity for me to get to know the players.”

All former Herne Bay players can gain free admission to their game against Deal.

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