The FA Cup is always fun, everyone wants to have a run in The FA Cup and we've got aspirations to do well, says Corinthian boss Michael Golding

CORINTHIAN manager Michael Golding says he is keen to enjoy a run in The FA Cup this season.

Corinthian are second from bottom in the Isthmian League South East Division after losing 2-0 at home to Hythe Town on the opening day of the season and 3-2 at newly-promoted side Beckenham Town on Tuesday night.

Centre-half Joshua Dorling was stretchered off early in the second half with a suspected broken leg but the club have since confirmed that there was no break and hope to see him back soon.

Golding is looking up, rather than down when it comes to the league despite having a brand new squad this season.

“It’s difficult because I always say regardless of the team and the league that I’m in, I always want to get promoted,” said Golding, who guided the club to a respectable eighth-place finish last season.

“We’ve got a brand new team and a team of kids so that’s probably not going to be case.

“We want to be competitive.  We will set out to get promotion absolutely but we want to be competitive, whether that’s competitive finishing in the top half or breaking eighth-place or competitive staying out of relegation we won’t know at this stage.

“Do I think we’re going to be a team that’s going to learn and improve from game two to game six to game 10, yes, absolutely!

“I think a cliché answer after 10 games we’ll know roughly where we’re going to be.

“We’re working so hard with them to get them up to standard individually. We’ve got some fantastic players.  I think the idea at the moment is, we want to be competitive.

“We’ve shown at Beckenham we’re competitive (fighting back from 2-0 down to 2-2) and we went away with our heads held high.

“Everyone enjoyed the game but we can’t go through the season going ‘we did alright’ and we’ve lost 3-2 and 2-0 every single game and we end up with zero points.

“It’s an exciting team and it’s an exciting time to be in charge of them and we’re looking forward to what it brings.”

Attention now turns to tomorrow’s FA Cup Preliminary Round tie against Guildford City at Gay Dawn Farm.

A lot was expected of Guildford City in the Combined Counties League Premier Division South (one level lower than Corinthian) last season but they had to settle for a disappointing fifteenth-place finish. Beckenham Town won the title at the first attempt and Walton & Hersham were also promoted to the Isthmian League, albeit in seperate divisions.

Guildford City are currently in the bottom four having lost both of their league games to big-hitting pair Jersey Bulls (3-1) and Badshot Lea (2-1) but came away from Broadbridge Heath in Horsham with a 2-1 win in the Extra Preliminary Round.

“I’m expecting a hard game, they’re a good side, had a good result in the last round,” said Golding.

“We’ve had them watched twice as you expect but a really good side. They’ve got a lot of boys who were at Sheerwater when we beat them in the FA Cup a couple of years ago.

“We’ll be expecting a tough game. I know the boys are desperate now to get that first win and get that monkey of our back, that’s important that we do that as quickly as possible, whether it’s league or FA Cup.

“The FA Cup is always fun.  Everyone wants to have a run in The FA Cup and everyone has that hope of getting on Match of The Day or progressing and playing a side from Step Two or whatever it might be.

“It is the last record I’ve not broken at the club or the group of boys haven’t broken, so we’ve beaten attendance and goalscoring records, we’ve done everything, we’ve equalled the FA Cup record so we want to do better than that.

“I’m not saying we’re going to win it (The FA Cup), we’ve got aspirations to do well. We want to progress.  We’ll be prepared for a tough game.  We’ve watched them in the last round and at Badshot Lea on Tuesday night so we’ll be prepared.

“We’ll certainly be looking to have a run in The FA Cup.  Everyone loves playing in it. I love managing in it. It’s the Biggest Cup Competition in the World and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”

Corinthian's best run in The FA Cup came in 2020-21 when they lost 1-0 at home National League South side Hampton & Richmond Borough in the Second Qualifying Round.

Corinthian  v  Guildford City
The Emirates FA Cup Preliminary Round
Saturday 20 August 2022
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Gay Dawn Farm, Valley Road, Fawkham, Longfield, Kent DA3 8LY