Winless August.

August ended with us in the bottom three after four games played and two points gained from them. We put up a decent fight at Chelmsford and probably deserved a point, but once the home side were awarded their obligatory penalty a minute after we’d been reduced to ten men the game was up and we lost 3-2. It was good to see Richard Pacquette scoring and looking sharper, he could prove to be a good signing as he gets a few more games under his belt.

On Bank Holiday Monday we hosted Tonbridge and really should have taken all three points, but a combination of great goalkeeping from Lee Worgan and some poor finishing saw us end up with only a point to show for our efforts. The game pretty much followed the patter on the previous draw at Hayes Lane with Staines and a number of games last season, we dominated possession, played some nice football and even created chances, but just couldn’t find the net. This was made worse by the loss of Albert Jarrett to injury who had looked in great form on his first game of the season follwoing suspension.   

According to www.kentishfootball.co.uk Jerry Dolke held a crisis meeting in the dressing room after the game on Monday to address certain issues, most notably our awful home form and alarming league position. Coach Neil Smith says the management team have the owner’s full backing, but it’s understandable that questions need to be answered given we are third bottom with the quality of the squad and size of the current budget.

A trip to Farnborough is next up quickly followed by home games with AFC Hornchurch & Bath City, the games don’t get any easier and unless we find the killer touch in front of goal, we could find ourselves losing touch at the bottom prior to the FA Cup Second Qualifying Round on 22^nd Sept, which could have massive connotations for the budget.       

Tough Start - Still No Goals.

The season began with a hard fought draw at home to a rugged Staines side that were happy to set up for a point and see if they could grab anything else. It wasn't a bad performance at all, but a lack of cutting edge in front of goal from either side meant that 0-0 was probabaly a fair result.
Prior to the game it emerged that Warren McBean would be out for six months with a ruptured achilies and man do we miss his touch in front of goal! Richard Pacquette came in to fil the gap, but as yet hasn't looked to be match sharp and to make thigs worse Nic McDonnell has now pulled his hamstring.
Then came Eastbourne Borough away, last season saw us lose 5-0 with a rookie keeper, this season it was only Joe Welch in goal that kept it down to 3-0. Two late penlaties in the first half and a cracker early in the second had the game all over before the hour mark and even when we were presented with a chance to get our first goal of the season Hakeem Araba missed his penalty. This probably wasn't helped by the fact he had to wrestle Pacquette for the ball to take it. Eastbourne were a good side with a great front three, but not as good as we made them look I'm sure.  
Now we face  a trip to Chelmsford which will be very tough before hosting Tonbridge Angels on Bank Holiday Monday. An optimist would hope for four points, but a realist would settle for two and sadly I think we may only get one!
The squad on paper looks more than capabale of staying up, but unless we find someone who can score on a regular basis and show a bit more belief we have a hard season ahead.            

New Season, Old Worries.

So here we are again. After a summer of Euro football and Olympic achievement we make our way down to Hayes Lane for the start of a new Conference South League season. The pre-season campaign doesn’t always count for a lot and lets hope this one is no exception given that we have been poor at best.    

Mark Goldberg & Neil Smith have both indicated that we are aiming for a play off spot in interviews, but the evidence on the field is that we will struggle to win games as we have no bite up front and thanks to injuries picked up in games we look vulnerable in midfield. Although there have not been that many new faces the side has looked anything but settled, familiar old faces who left under clouds previously have been given another opportunity including Nic McDonnell, Ali Chaaban, Tony Finn and Warren McBean. Sadly for Wozza his return was halted by a terrible tackle from a Cray Wanderers defender which has ruled him out for two months. Whether the appearance of Richard Pacquette last Saturday was anything other than a cameo remains to be seen, but we desperately need a proven striker to avoid the relegation battle of last season.

The bookies have had us out at 88/1 for promotion, which was shortened to 66/1 after a lot of interest, but they are rarely wrong and we may find ourselves with a tough nine months ahead.

The fine work that goes on off the field is still yet to be matched on it in recent times, I hope those behind the scenes get better rewarded this term. It all starts with the visit of Marcus Gayle's Staines Town side this Saturday, lets hope Ali Chaaban can find his goalscoring touch against his old club.