Burman faces a race against time to attend FA Cup tie - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS

Table topping Dartford boss Tony Burman will be facing a race against time to get to Saturday’s FA Cup preliminary round tie at Tunbridge Wells, writes Stephen McCartney.

Burman has revealed he’s travelling to St Austell, Cornwall on Thursday for his nieces wedding the following afternoon.

Speaking in an EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with www.kentishfootball.co.uk, Burman, whose side are top of the Ryman League Division One South table after four games, revealed: “We booked our hotel from Thursday to Sunday. I was hoping the game was going to be on Sunday but it’s now on the Saturday.

“But I felt I needed to be at our game at Tunbridge Wells and I’m flying from Newquay at 11 o’clock Saturday morning and being picked up at Gatwick Airport at a quarter past twelve and going straight to the game.

“Then after the game I’ll be flying back to Newquay to drive my family home Sunday morning.  All I can say is, as other managers know, the wife isn’t happy!

“But on a serious note it’s a very important game for us, regardless of anyone’s results before, it’s the FA Cup and I feel I need to be there.”

But Burman’s unbeaten side go into the game, against a side that’s currently at the foot of the Kent League table, flying and looking to improve on their recent poor FA Cup form.

“The last few years I don’t think we’ve got through our first qualifying round,” he said. “We didn’t do that last year and I want to improve on that.

“We want to go further than we did last year but we will treat Tunbridge Wells with respect.

“I’ve got a lot of time for Martin Farnie and we talk regularly on the phone but I won’t be speaking to him this week, but after the game we’ll have a shandy together and ask for a lift to Gatwick!”

But Tunbridge Wells’ boss Martin Farnie, whose a former Dartford coach, insists his side will be winning games soon.

Although the Culverden Stadium outfit are surprisingly at the foot of the table, having just scored twice in their first five games, which they’ve all lost, it doesn’t help when you miss three penalties in your last two games.

A 1-0 defeat at Herne Bay was followed by a 3-0 home loss to local rivals Sevenoaks Town on Bank Holiday Monday.

Joe Fuller missed penalties in both games, and midfielder Joe Wade, whose recently re-signed for the club, also missed from the spot against galvanised Sevenoaks.

Farnie told www.kentishfootball.co.uk : “We ain’t doing particularly well at the moment but things are getting better.

“We played Herne Bay on Saturday and we should have got something out of the game but we’re just missing too many chances.

“We’ve missed three penalties over the weekend - you can’t miss chances and win football matches unfortunately.

“We’re creating chances but if we weren’t creating chances I’d be more concerned. It just needs a bit more luck and confidence in front of goal and we should be ok.”

But Farnie insists his keeping faith with his current squad, admitting he’s finding it hard to bring new faces to the club.

“I can’t chop and change things,” he said. “I can’t get anyone in at the moment - I’ve been trying.

“I don’t want to chop and change, I’m quite happy with the players we’ve got. They’re all good players and I have to stay loyal with them and give them confidence and they’ll come good.

“We’re trying to breed our own players instead of buying success. That’s what we’ve been doing for the last six months.

“We have a lot of young players playing their first season at senior football. You have to take this into consideration.

“If they’re seasoned pros I’d be pulling my hair out but in three to four months time they’ll be better players.”

But Farnie will be without Andy Garrett (hernia) for at least another three weeks and Adrian Hatcher is currently on holiday.

He will, however, be looking at his more experienced players, Jason Bourne, Ben Hilden and character Brad Mortimer, 21, to cause a shock against Dartford.

Farnie highlighted the fact that his side will have problems keeping up with left-wing wizard Dave Martin - arguably the best player in Kent.

“They’ve been playing together for a couple of years and we’ve got our hands full to even stay with them.

“We’ve got to work hard to get anything out of the game but if we apply good team spirit, work hard, you never know.

“No-one thought we’d beat Beckenham Town to reach the Kent Senior Trophy final last season.”

Speaking about winger Dave Martin, Farnie added: “He is one of the quickest lads I’ve seen in Kent. He’s difficult to mark but I need to chat with my coaching staff and see how we’ll deal with him.

“If you get too tight to him, with his pace, he will out strip you and if they knock the ball behind us, he’ll get us with his pace. We’ve got our work cut out.”

Visit the Tunbridge Wells' website: www.tunbridgewellsfc.co.uk

Visit Dartford's websites:  www.dartfordfc.co.uk & www.dartfordfootballclub.co.uk