Wednesday, January 14, 2009 22:29
The weekend's big freeze put paid to most of the football in the county and Faversham Town were no exception as their League Cup Quarter Final first leg against Holmesdale was postponed.
Town manager Justin Luchford would have preferred to have played the rearranged match on Wednesday (today) but with difficulties with logistics, the match will be played next Tuesday evening.
This cancellation now means another week without a fixture and the boss was worried that this will not help the club be consistant but he was philisophical about it saying "not much we can do about the weather."
This Saturday, the Lilywhites entertain Greenwich Borough at Salters Lane when they return to league action, Town having won the previous league encounter back in November by the odd goal in three.
Luchford was grateful that, with a break of two weeks without a game, the next game was at home, saying "that is all you can ask for."
Looking back at the Greenwich match back in November, Luchford said "Greenwich have picked up decent results this season and we only got the winner last time at their place in the 93rd minute, so Saturday will be difficult.
"We just have to keep doing what we have been doing and if we do our jobs and work hard then we will be difficult to beat. However, we can't afford to ever be complacent, these are teams that can beat anyone on their day.
There were some good players on show last time out and I expect the same on Saturday." That 93rd minute goal was a little fortuatous having hit the bar and coming back down only to hit the keeper and roll back into the open net.
Asked if you make your own luck, the gaffer said "It's not if results are going for you that you get luck, I am a firm beleiver that you make your own luck. If you always work hard and give 100% then I beleive you will get that odd bit of luck.
"Roy's goal against Greenwich was probably the turning point of the season. He got the luck of the bounce that day because of the hard work he put in when he got onto the pitch."
Asked if he or the team had any matchday superstitions, Luchford said "No real superstitions, we just have to make sure we prepare in the best way we know how and make sure come 3pm everyone is ready to play the game and switched on to the game plan and make sure we work hard and execute with quality."
Greenwich don't score many but don't concede may either. With Town not playing as well as they have in previous matches but still winning, Luchford said "We will have to be patient against them. We are doing OK so every team will raise their game now against us. I keep saying it but if we do our jobs then I am sure we will score.
"We haven't kept many clean sheets lately and this is something that I will be looking for on Saturday. "We have not been great recently, but our work rate has been very impressive. I think the players beleive that if we work hard and doing everything we have worked on, then we have a chance even up to the final whistle.
"Belief is so important at any level. If you have belief then you have a chance. There is nothing worse as a player when the other team keep going and going even when you are up against it, especially in the last 20 minutes when players tire.
We work hard to make sure we still have alot to give then, and that has paid dividends this season. "We will train twice this week. We were able to get together last Thursday and that was good but we will work hard this week to prepare for Saturday."
With the arrival of Dave Botterill from Ryman league outfit Chatham Town, Luchford now thinks the last piece of the jigsaw is now in place. "As far as the squad is concerned, I now have all the players I need.
We are strong in each position and we also have cover for each position. "I think we will continue to get good results this season, it will just be interesting to see how consistent we are in order to find out where we will end up.
If I can keep this squad of players together for next season, then I am sure we will be in the top six and maybe higher with a view to eventually getting out of this league within the three seasons I had given us."
Two games in four days at Salters Lane will begin to test to see how consistant the Lilywhites are with two tough games. "Once we get Greenwich done Saturday, we take on Holmesdale at home in the 1st leg of the Cup on Tuesday.
I have said before that this is important to us. We would love to go all the way in the cup to have a great day out for the club. It would show how far we have come. However, I am sure Holmesdale will have something to say about that and will want to do the same themselves.
"It will be a tough two-legged tie, but we have a chance. If we can take a lead to their place that would be great but a draw wouldn't be a disaster. I will probably make some changes from the game against Greenwich to keep us fresh, but we will see come Tuesday.
Kick of on Saturday against Greenwich is 3.00pm and on Tuesday against Holmesdale will be 7.45pm.