CLIFF Akurang made the perfect start to his reign as Heybridge Swifts boss.

The 33-year-old was appointed as Swifts manager last Thursday, following the departure of previous boss Keith Wilson.

Akurang joined from Maldon and Tiptree where he had been working as a player coach.

The club had slipped into the Ryman League divisoin one north relagation spaces but his first game in charge saw a 1-0 victory at Chatham on Saturday and a move up the table.

And Akurang believes it is the right time to begin his managerial career and that he can help Swifts move away from the threat of the drop.

He said: “It has always been a job I have wanted to do – to get into management and when the Heybridge job came up I thought go for it, I think the time is right.

“Hopefully I can bring some new ideas to the club, some of my own experiences to the players and hopefully we can start moving up.”

Looking back on his first game in charge of the side Akurang was pleased with what he saw.

A first-half injury-time header from Aaron Gayle was enough to secure the win.

Akurang said: “I couldn’t have asked for more from the players on Saturday.

“I would have been happy with the performance whatever the result had been.

“They got what they deserved for their efforts.

“To be fair I went into the game looking to find weaknesses and areas to be worked on.

“I couldn’t find any, they played really well..”

This Saturday Heybridge make the trip to high-flying Thurrock and Akurang knows it will be a tough prospect.

Akurang said: “Thurrock are another of my former teams.

“It’s not going to be easy as they are playing well at the moment.

“But if the boys put in a similar effort to what they did on Saturday then they have every chance..”