Cugley: Three more wins to be entirely safe

Folkestone Invicta welcome second place Fisher Athletic to the Buzzlines Stadium tomorrow, writes Andy Bown and Tom Marchant - www.folkestoneinvicta.co.uk

The two sides have already met twice this season; back in October in a 0-0 draw in the Ryman Premier, and then in November in the Westview (Ryman League) Cup where Invicta went down 4-2, with strikers Paul Jones and the since departed James Dryden getting the goals at Dulwich Hamlet’s Champion Hill Stadium, which Fisher currently ground share whilst their Surrey Docks Stadium undergoes extensive redevelopment.

Fisher last visited Cheriton Road back in November 2003, when two goals from forward John Ayling who is now in the United States on a football scholarship, and a header from current centre back Adam Flanagan sealed a 3-2 victory for Folkestone in what was then the Dr. Martens League Cup.

Fisher were promoted to the Ryman Premier from the Southern League Division One East last season, winning the title by nine points over East Thurrock United, and finishing with a points total of ninety-six.

They now have the best away record in the Premier and have scored the most goals away from home. They are currently seven points off leaders Braintree Town. Their leading goalscorers are Leroy Griffiths (12) and Steve Watts (11). Griffiths is currently on loan at Nationwide Conference club Aldershot, and was last season at Conference South side Grays Athletic who are now riding high in the Conference. Manager Wayne Burnett left Fisher in November having been at the club since February 2004, and was replaced by Justin Edinburgh who left Billericay Town this season.

As the scheduled friendly on Wednesday night for Folkestone against Sittingbourne was cancelled, training took place as per usual. Striker Paul Jones is still out with a groin injury, whilst left sided defender Paul Lamb is expected to be fit and in contention for a place in manager Neil Cugley’s squad after suffering bruised ribs a fortnight ago in the 1-0 win over Windsor and Eton.

Cugley remarked about his side’s forthcoming opponents, “They’re (Fisher) a very attacking team and they’ve spent heavily in the summer which has made them a good attacking side. If they don’t win it they will definitely make the play-offs”.

He is fully aware of Fisher’s impressive away record and knows it’ll be a tough match for his team: “The last few sides, Windsor especially, just sat back and it made it easy for us and it was a poor game. Ironically enough I thought the best we’ve played in the last few weeks was against Hampton, and I think sometimes when you play the better footballing sides you end up playing better football as well. Hopefully Saturday will be more exciting for the fans and we’ll be able to play some better football”.

After three successive victories over the bottom three sides, the Invicta boss added: “We’ve been on a terrific run recently and we want to aim for four wins in a row, but this is going to be our toughest test yet.

“We do have a lot of confidence in the dressing room at the moment and it’s just getting that out onto the pitch”.

Cugley mentioned he has set out his points target to the players, saying: “I feel we need maybe forty-eight points or three more wins to be entirely safe. I want to get these as soon as possible.

“I’ve been stressing to the players that we want to be safe by about March/April time and this has meant getting as many points as possible now. Obviously the earlier we can be safe the earlier we can start preparing for next season in the knowledge we will be in the same league”.

Preparations for next season are indeed already well underway, with Cugley announcing yesterday that contract negotiations with his squad were progressing extremely well.