While the first team battled to a deserved FA Trophy victory over Welling at Park View Road yesterday, there was further reason to cheer back home at the Hoverspeed Stadium where the reserve team were playing Ashford.

The 2-0 win that maintained the Athletic’s lead at the top of the table was good but the most satisfying sight was that of defender Nicky Humphrey back in a White shirt for the first time in over a year. Humphrey suffered a career-threatening badly broken ankle in a freak incident in the game at home to Tamworth on 2nd November last year.

Since then it has been a long road back for the player who had made just 16 appearances after signing for the Whites in the summer of 2002. Humphrey completed 45 minutes of yesterday’s game, as planned, and will be hoping to build up his fitness so that he is in contention for the first team in the new year.