The irony wasn’t lost on Ebbsfleet’s Omari Sterling-James after he scored his first goal of the season last weekend.

Sterling-James’ cross-shot went straight in against York as keeper and defenders hesitated in equal measure.

It was only Sterling-James’ third outing of the campaign. He took seven months and 36 games to get off the mark last season.

“It was a nice little cross-shot, no one touched it so it just went straight in,” he said.

“I was doing a lot of things right last year and not scoring so it was good that something like that went my way. I’ll take it any which way.

“I wouldn’t say I’m up on the list but at least I’m on it now!

“It’s a big relief to get off the mark but now I need to get my performances where they need to be.”

It’s been quite the summer for Sterling-James, who helped Saint Kitts & Nevis reach the Gold Cup Finals for the first time.

They lost to USA, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago in the group stages without scoring -but that failed to take the gloss off the achievement.

“It literally was the whole summer - I think I had a week-and-a-half of off-season!” said Sterling-James.

“My summer was away with the team, playing games and training, and then that got extended by reaching the Finals.

“It was a great experience playing against some top teams and going to the Gold Cup as the country had never been.

“It was worth giving the summer up for! I loved being out there representing my country and playing with my team-mates.

“It’s a good atmosphere when we’re together. As we were out there for so long, it became even more like brothers and sisters together as you spend every minute of every day with someone from your group.

“No one had got to the Finals before so while the expectation was probably to get there with the squad we have, you still have to go and do it.”

Despite a long summer of international football, Sterling-James featured in Ebbsfleet’s first two league games this season.

He’s since been sidelined through injury but returned against York and is now keen to regain match fitness and contribute to the team.

“Luckily enough, Darren McQueen has been absolutely outstanding since we’ve been back, both pre-season and the start of the season,” said Sterling-James.

“I’ve got to try and catch him up now, and the team is winning games so I’ve got no complaints.

“It’s been a bit stop-start. I came in late for pre-season and was trying to catch up. Then I came in, got injured and have been getting right for the last couple of weeks.

“Last Saturday was my first game back, so it was a good one to come back into with a goal and an assist.

“I’ve managed to get some minutes into the tank and given myself a base to build on. Hopefully, I can get some more minutes in, get back to full fitness and see where that takes me.

“I’m happy that the team’s winning games and we’re playing well, that’s all that really matters to be honest.

“There’s no reason why we should fear fighting at the top end of the table. The way we play and score goals, we’ve got a threat in every game so there’s no reason why we can’t look at the play-offs.

“I wouldn’t say there’s a direct target that we must finish in that number, but we’ll take each game as it comes and try to win against everyone that is put in front of us and see where it takes us.”