A LEAGUE and cup treble is still on for Simon Halsey’s young Herne Bay side after their League Cup quarter-final second leg against Hythe Town ended 1-1 last night.

It was enough to give Bay a 3-1 aggregate victory and means they will no go into the hat for the semi-final draw, alongside Beckenham Town, Sevenoaks Town and the winner of the Faversham Town/ Erith and Belvedere tie.

Hythe came to Winch’s Field with a job to do and they set about it early on when they looked the more dangerous side, playing some good football along the way.

But with 27 minutes it was the home side who took the lead, Michael Jenner collecting the ball on the edge of the box after an attack had broken down to fire an unstoppable shot past the Town keeper.

That put Bay 3-0 ahead on aggregate and left the visitors knowing that only a remarkable turnaround could rescue their cup campaign.

To their credit they kept coming at Bay and continued to play decent football, and they were rewarded for their efforts 10 minutes before the break when a Michael Yianni shot gave Bay stopper Dan Eason little chance.

There were chances at both ends in a lively second half with Turner twins James and Michael both spurning decent chances while Eason had to be on his toes to save a 25-yard free-kick 15 minutes from time.

In the end, however, Bay were good value for the draw on the night and victory over two legs.

Manager Halsey said: “It was tough game, the pitch was very heavy and didn’t really suit our passing game.

“Having said that we did have good chances to win the game, and I certainly think we were good value over the two games.

“Now we’re looking forward to the draw. We can’t wait.”

Bay return to Kent League action this Saturday when they are away to Sporting Bengal United. With league leaders Faversham without a game, Bay can close the gap at the top to seven points.