​HERNE Bay will go into Tuesday’s League Cup semi-final second leg at Salters Lane with a 3-1 advantage after last night’s home victory against Faversham Town.

Despite both sides opting to rest several influential players there was a lively start to the game in front of good sized crowd of 154.

The Lillywhites looked to have scored after eight minutes but the ball was adjudged not to have crossed the line, but it was the home side who broke the deadlock just two minutes later when defender Ashley Brown turned a low cross past his own keeper, Town stopper Robert French left helpless.

This seemed to spur Bay on as they took control of the rest of the first half and, it appeared initially, the cup tie.

With 22-minutes played a great quick-passing move involving Sean Bremner, Bay skipper for the night in place of the missing Luke Harvey, young Michael Turner and Stuart King ended with central defender Steve Hanson bundling the ball in to double the home side’s lead.

Rob Lawrence and King both spurned good chances before, with 37 minutes on the clock, King scored the goal of the game when he outpaced a flat-footed Faversham defence and fired past French to make it 3-0 at half-time.

There was more to Faversham in the second half, Bay very much on the back foot, but clear-cut chances, for either side, were few and far between.

With 71 minutes played Bremner was penalized for a foul on the right, just outside the Bay penalty area. From the resulting free-kick Steve O’Brien, introduced as a second half substitute, rose to head past Bay keeper Dan Eason.

There were no more goals, but O’Brien has ensured that there is everything to play for in Tuesday night’s second leg .