Beckingham: Let's make it a day to remember

HOLMESDALE’S joint-manager Tony Beckingham is confident his table-topping side can make it a day to remember on Saturday, writes Stephen McCartney.

The Dalers travel down to Sussex County League side Selsey for their first ever outing in the FA Carlsberg Vase, confident that they can win the first qualifying round tie.

And Beckingham, speaking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk tonight, revealed everybody at the Bromley Common based club are excited with the prospect of being involved on the Road to Wembley for the very first time.

“I’m just going to tell them to go out and enjoy it and make history for Holmesdale Football Club,” said Beckingham.

“It’s a massive occasion for our club and I want them to go out and do themselves and the club proud.”

Beckingham has already done his homework on the Sussex hosts.

“We went to see them the first game of the season, when we didn’t have a game, away at East Grinstead, and they’re a good side,” he said.

“They’re quite well organised, solid at the back with two good wingers but we didn’t see anything we haven’t seen in the Kent League, certainly no better than the sides we’ve played against.

“They’re going to be tough but if we can perform on the day I’m confident we can come away with a result.”

Beckingham’s boys, however, are the surprise package in the Kent League so far this season, topping the table with four wins and a draw from their first five games.

“I’ve got to be honest,” said Beckingham. “We’re top at the moment, we’ve had a good start and we’re just enjoying the season at the minute.

“We’re realistic, we don’t expect it to last for a long time, but we’ll enjoy it for the time it does last.

“That is the message we’re saying and it’s realistic. If we’re still there come March or April, I might be getting excited.

“In October, we’ve got VCD, Beckenham and Croydon and we’ve got Hythe. If we win all of them and we’re still top, you might hear me saying something different.”

When asked which players have helped turn around the club’s fortunes, Beckingham admitted it was a team-effort.

But he did say: “You’ve put me on the spot now. It’ll be a little amiss of me to name an individual but certainly Danny Harwood, in goal, has been a rock, organising our defence and at times he has been a one man wall at the back.

“Obviously Lee Morgan has brought us so much experience and know how but basically all round as a side we’ve worked very hard.

“They’ve listened and gone out and they’ve all played to the best of their ability - I don’t want to pick out individuals.”

If scores remain level after 90 minutes on Saturday, no extra time will be played, but the replay will take place at Oakley Road next Tuesday.

“You have a choice whether you want to finish the game on the day, we’ve elected for the replay,” said Beckingham, who wants to finish off the job at the first attempt.

He added: “We don’t want to be paying their expenses to come up to our place!”

Visit Holmedale’s website:  www.holmesdalefc.co.uk

Selsey v Holmesdale
FA Carlsberg Vase First Qualifying Round
Saturday 6^th September 2008
Kick Off 3:00pm
At High Street Ground, High Street, Selsey, West Sussex PO20 0QH