Sam Denly has praised his players after three wins in a week lifted spirits on and off the pitch at Winch’s Field.

And the Herne Bay boss doesn’t want it to stop here, ahead of two Ryman League Division 1 South home games – against Walton Casuals on Saturday and Hythe Town on Tuesday.

The 3-2 win at East Grinstead on Saturday – after being 2-0 down inside the opening quarter hour – made it four in a row, extending a winning sequence, started against Chipstead late last month.

Denly said: “I am proud of the players. We have moved on fantastically well in the past month and re-grouped.

“It’s not easy to win four games in a row in our league, which is tough and everyone capable of beating each other.”

A trip to Grinstead always holds unhappy memories for Denly, having suffered a career-ending knee injury there more than a dozen years ago and Bay’s awful start only added to his discomfort.

He said: “After 10 minutes I was saying to myself ‘get me out of here’ – but although we showed character to get back to 2-2 by half-time, I wasn’t happy at all because conceding both goals to set-pieces wasn’t acceptable.”

Two-goal Danny Williams hit the 90th-minute winner to snatch the points but Denly was convinced the striker, who has scored doubles in the last two away games, should have had all three to his name.

He said: “Danny has gone wide for the second and his cross-shot was hitting the target until the defender put it in his own net – for me it’s his hat-trick all-day long.

“It was a fantastic bit of skill and shows what an all-round, quality striker he is.”

Nathan Eastwood came off the bench at East Grinstead to make his 350th appearance for the club, having been talked out of retirement by Denly earlier this year.

He said: “That statistic tells it own story, Nathan is my best mate, we went to school together and he has been excellent – a massive asset to the team and club.”