Crawford: It's time we showed some heart - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS

Ashford Town goalkeeper Simon Overland has told his team-mates to look at themselves in the mirror before their “battle at the basement” at Hastings United on Bank Holiday Monday, writes Stephen McCartney.

Heroics from the giant 20-year-old, Maidstone based goalkeeper, prevented Molesey from scoring more than four goals at The Homelands on Saturday.

Molesey took just 116 seconds to open the scoring when Phil Ruggles’ scored his second goal of the season.

Midfielder Steve Brown doubled the lead from the penalty spot in the 27^th minute - and later headed the fourth goal (63) after Jay Richardson drove home on the stroke of half-time.

Ashford Town’s third defeat of the campaign leaves them rooted to the foot of the Ryman League Division One South table, and travel to The Pilot Field tomorrow low on confidence.

But the east Sussex side are just one place above them, and are also pointless having lost to Maidstone United, Tooting & Mitcham United and Croydon Athletic.

You can’t take too many positives out of the game. Midfielders Simon Glover and Jonathan Thorogood were both sent off during the second half for the Kent side.

The only good point was the improvement of the playing surface at The Homelands.

But Overland demands an improvement from his team-mates on the pitch tomorrow.

“To be honest mate, it was embarrassing,” Overland said in an EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with www.kentishfootball.co.uk after the drubbing.

“There was no heart to it, to be fair until Barry (Crawford) came on and showed that he wanted it.

“But it started from the kick-off to be honest. The ball went to Rossi’s (Ian Ross) side and straight underneath his foot and that set the tone for the whole game, especially in the first half.

“It’s very disappointing to be in a side where teams are constantly beating us.”

Reflecting on their opponents Molesey, Overland, whose on a season long loan from Nationwide Conference side Dagenham & Redbridge, and playing his tenth game for the Kent club, said “I thought they played some decent football in patches - well anything better than us.

“But we’ve got to learn to deal with teams like that. We’ve got to learn to get our head down and just challenge all the way to the end. We didn’t do that today - it started straight from the kick-off.

“A team like us need a goal to get at teams. But they scored in two minutes and that, for me, set the tone again for everyone else.”

Overland, however, admitted he could have prevented the Surrey side scoring four goals, and feels his team-mates need to think long an hard about their “atrocious” performance before they take to the field in Hastings.

He said: “Four goals have still gone in. I could look at it and say “yes, I made 6-7 saves” but deep down I know I should be making them saves.” He added: “Four to go past me is very disappointing.

“We’ve got to go home tonight and sit down and think about today and tomorrow wake up with a fresh start and go to Hastings and really take it to them on Monday.

“It’s down to us as individuals to go home tonight and think about what we have to do and come and do the job on Monday.”

Combined Counties League minnows Bedfont Green, who knocked out Mike Robbins’ Rye United, visit The Homelands in the FA Cup preliminary round next Saturday.

If Ashford scrape through this banana skin, they will host Ryman Premier League neighbours Tonbridge Angels in the next round on 16^th September - a game that will boost the club’s coffers.

“If you can’t get up for the FA Cup you might as well not be playing football,” said Overland.

“Next Saturday we should be up for it and take it to them and hopefully start a new chapter.

“Tonbridge are a team above us and it will be good to play against a team and compare ourselves with them.”

Right-back Tom Adlington, meanwhile, played his 125^th game for the club, and insists things must improve if they are to avoid the same form they showed in the past two seasons, where they finished third from bottom on both occasions.

The 31-year-old, who scooped both the supporters’ and players-player-of-the-year awards last term, is a consistent performer in the green shirt, and has also played for Gillingham youth, Maidstone United (YTS), West Ham United, Welling United, Horsham, Banstead Athletic, Erith & Belvedere and Dartford.

When asked how he was feeling after the game, he replied: “Not very good to say the least. It was awful. We Didn’t start well and it got worse from there.

“We’ve got to bounce back haven’t we! There’s no two ways about it. We’ve got to come back from that and prove to everyone what we can do.”

The Homelands club aren’t even looking forward to their FA Cup showdown with Bedfont Green next weekend.

“We don’t want to think about that game, we want to get Hastings out of the way first,” said Adlington.

“First two games of the season we’ve played really well, got the ball down and played and competed with two of the better sides in the league.

“Today we just weren’t at the races - not acceptable. There’s no explanations for it.

“We didn’t start well, preparation probably wasn’t the best and it all started from the first minute.”

Having joined the club at the start of the 2003-04 campaign, Adlington has endured the last two campaigns, where the club has avoided the drop into the Kent League by just one place.

“I don’t think the quality of players over the years have necessarily been the best,” he admitted. “But the squad we’ve got now is a very good squad and we shouldn’t be putting in displays like that.”

The Scots are renowned for their passion and not giving up. And half-time substitute Barry Crawford, who replaced skipper Stuart Playford who put in a poor performance, calls upon his team-mates to show more heart.

“Team morale is obviously quite low but hopefully we can try to pick the boys up for Monday,” he said.

“The Hastings game will see what the boys hearts are like. If their hearts aren’t in it, I don’t want to play beside them because I’ve got a big heart and I want to go down there and get a result - especially because it’s a local derby.

“I want it badly and hopefully the rest of the boys do. The ones who don’t will be out the door.”

Maidstone resident Crawford, 22, is already looking ahead to playing Tonbridge Angels on the 16^th September - but they will have to get past Bedfont Green unscathed first.

The former Glasgow Rangers player added: "If the FA Cup can’t get the boys up for the game nothing will.

“Playing against a team in a higher league as well, its a chance for the players who believe they can play higher to go and show they can. So it’s a big incentive.

“But we’ve got to show respect though to Bedfont Green, even though they’re a lower league team but we’ll see how it goes.”

The club has confirmed that they have secured a new training facility in Rochester.

Joint-manager John Cumberbatch said: “It’s a very good venue. It’s Astroturf but it’s quite good Astroturf. It’d not the Astroturf that puts pressure on the knees so that’s a very good thing.

“It’s a very big area, we’re hoping also that the reserves will be able to train there. If that happens I think that will be good for the squad as a whole. But we certainly need it the way we were today.”

Cumberbatch spoke to frustrated striker Richard Sinden in a storeroom after the game, also spoke at length to Anthony Allman and Glover out in the car park later.

Speaking about team morale, he said: “They’re a little bit shell-shocked because the team know that we can do a hell of a lot better than that.

“We played quite well in the last two games, one of them we should have definitely won, so the morale was still quite high.

“But with what happened especially in the first half, this thing of gifting people goals in the first minute, and whatever we do from a management/training point of view to try and stop it, it’s something that keeps happening.

“But we just have to work to try and stop it happen.

Cumberbatch is, however, fully focused on their trip to Hastings, and is not thiking about their FA Cup game next Saturday.

“We can’t think that far, we’ve got to get league points so we can’t even start thinking about the FA Cup,” he said.

With just one goal from their first three games, Cumberbatch admitted the club are still searching for that prized asset every club needs.

He said: “I’ve spoken before about our need for a striker and it’s becoming more and more clear.

“To an extent it may be that in itself is putting pressure on the strikers and making them snatch at things that they would normally put away, but it’s been a problem ever since I’ve been at this club.”