Kentish Football 
Byron Walker's return is a massive boost, says Herne Bay boss Simon Halsey
Walker returns to Winch’s Field after agreeing a dual-registration with Blue Square Bet (Conference) North side Stalybridge Celtic after not enjoying life on his own in unfamiliar surroundings.
Walker, who returned to Herne Bay and scored against Crawley Down Gatwick on 8 September, comes back into the squad to face Neil Cugley’s side.
“Byron Walker has returned back to Herne Bay,” revealed a delighted Halsey.
“We talk week in week out and I’ve been keeping tabs on what’s happening. He’s travelled back today and his dual-registration allows him to play for us so he’s back as a Herne Bay player now.
“What the business was up there is not my concern. My concern is he’s at the ground tomorrow and Tuesday, next Saturday and Tuesday and whatever.
Halsey added: “It’s a massive boost. We’ve been doing ok. Rhys Lawson has been scoring, Dean Grant has been scoring, JT (James Turner) has been scoring and now we’ve got Byron back who got me 24 and 19 goals in the last two seasons. If he can come back and get a smile back on his face again and get playing again and hopefully he can start scoring again.
“He played against Crawley Down in his one and only appearance and scored so we’ll match him up with one of the other strikers to score the goals to pay the rent.
“Byron will be the one to let everyone know about the situation or personal circumstances. All I’m worried about is Byron is a Herne Bay player.”
Herne Bay crashed to a disappointing 4-1 home defeat to Worthing last weekend and as a result dropped down to eighth-place in the Ryman League Division One South table, with 19 points from 12 games.
“We started off well and started brightly but didn’t carry on what we’ve been doing,” said Halsey.
“By their manager’s admission and supporters that’s the best they’ve played all season and we’ve had a two week lay-off and it’s affected us so we weren’t at our best and that was the end result.
“It’s a little bit of a shock when you’ve had an eight-game unbeaten run, but I put it to the lads to get a nine game unbeaten run but we were a little bit short.
“Was it a shock to the system? No! If I’m honest with you. But it’s always possible to happen in this league from what I’ve found out from the first 12 games.”
Halsey said he was “over the moon” with his side’s league position in their inaugural campaign at this level.
But he said: “We’ve had a bad three weeks. We haven’t played for two weeks and we’ve lost 4-1 and then we’re still eighth in the league. To me that’s because we’ve had a good start and now we have to get back on track and get another unbeaten run going again so that’s what we’ll be setting out to do on Saturday.”
Supporters are reminded that the game against troubled Folkestone Invicta kick’s off at 1pm tomorrow due to issues with the floodlights at Winch’s Field.
Folkestone Invicta revealed this week that they must pay off an additional unpaid £12,000 tax bill – four grand of which has been paid off by chairman Mark Jenner – and the club still must pay off their £800 CVA debt every month.
Neil Cugley’s side knocked Herne Bay out of The FA Cup back in August in the Preliminary Round with a 3-1 win.
Halsey said: “It’s a Kent derby, we’ve got a couple of them in the next four or five weeks, so hopefully a good turn out with an early kick-off as well.
“They might have their financial problems but it won’t deter from the fact that they’ve got one of the best strikers in the league (Stuart King) and they’ve got some very good players so we have to get back to being at our best again or something close to it to compete with them and get something from the game.
“What’s happened in the FA Cup has got no relevance on it. That’s gone, history and we’ll be facing them to try to take all three points.”
Herne Bay have lost a couple of strikers, Andy Irvine (Tunbridge Wells) and George Landais (Tooting & Mitcham United) in recent weeks but central defender James Campbell is in contention for a place in tomorrow’s squad.
Visit Herne Bay’s website: www.hernebayfc.net
Herne Bay v Folkestone Invicta
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 10th November 2012
Kick Off 1:00pm
at Winch’s Field, Stanley Gardens, Herne Bay, Kent CT6 5SG
Red Dragon I.T. Ltd