Sam Blackman enjoyed a superb Margate return on Saturday.

Gate player-boss Ben Greenhalgh had hoped to retain Blackman last summer, only for the midfielder to join Folkestone as uncertainty continued at Hartsdown Park following Isthmian Premier relegation and Mark Stimson’s exit as manager.

But having struggled to force his way in at Invicta, and after not playing since February 1, former captain Blackman rejoins Gate for their Isthmian South East promotion push on loan for the rest of this season.

The 29-year-old made an instant impact from the start as he scored inside the first 10 minutes of their 4-2 victory at Eastbourne.

Greenhalgh said: “It was always a tough one with Blacky.

“He was probably going to be the first one to sign for me this season. But he agreed to sign for Folkestone when there were a few things that were still going on for us.

“Where he has had some time off from football, I think he’s got that hunger back. He’s got an opportunity to get us into the play-offs.

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“He made a big difference on Saturday. We probably played him longer than we expected - but we simply had to keep playing him with how well he did.

“It was a good day for him.”

Other new Margate arrivals in the last two weeks have been returning defender Emmanuel Oke, 22, and 24-year-old winger TT Walters while forward Tom Derry only joined from Folkestone in late January.

Walters won a penalty on his Gate debut, too, with substitute Ben Allen converting the late spot-kick after young forward Louie Atkins and playmaker Greenhalgh had struck in the first half-hour.

“I had a conversation with Ricky [Owen, chairman] and the board,” Greenhalgh revealed.

“We were all aligned that we needed more squad depth. We had felt that since the Sittingbourne game where we had three players out.

“Now, we want to be as strong as we possibly can be for the run-in so it was good to get that support from Ricky and the board.

“Emmanuel Oke is probably one that will play higher, having played higher before. He has played 50-odd games in National League North and was at Hemel earlier this season.

“Sam has come back and, to be fair to him, he’s not played a lot this year. But he has played more than 100 times for Margate previously so he knows the club well.

“As for TT, he’s an experienced winger. He’s probably one of the best wingers we’ve come up against in the league this season.

“We played slightly differently on Saturday and Louie got off to a great start, scoring his goal, and so did Sam.

“It’s probably the best 30 minutes we have had all season, being 3-0 up that quickly.

“Obviously, we conceded at a bad time from a free-kick.

“Then, they got a second goal but, to be fair, even though they had more attacking threat than the first time we played them this season, we always felt that we would win the game from there.

“It was good for Ben Allen to come on and score, as well. That’s important because we need to get everyone fit and firing.”

Only Blackman started at Eastbourne of the new arrivals.

Greenhalgh stated: “We have not thrown people in from the start all season.

“We have been quite consistent with that because it does take time to adapt to how we play and how we try to score goals.

“You could see that with TT on Saturday where he watched how we play from the side, understood what we’re trying to do and then came on to get an assist.”

Gate are now on a run of three successive home games, playing mid-table Broadbridge Heath this weekend and relegation-threatened Littlehampton seven days later.

Greenhalgh said: “They’re not going to be walkovers - not many teams in this league are - but we just need to focus on our own performance levels.”

Margate will host Sittingbourne tonight.