Erith Town boss Tony Russell unveils the capture of Elstom Die

Thursday 17th February 2011

ERITH TOWN boss Tony Russell says their top-of-the-table clash away to Herne Bay will be their hardest game of the season, writes Stephen McCartney.

The 32-year-old Dockers boss guided his side to the top of the Kent League table with an impressive 4-2 win at Fisher, but they were brought back down to earth last weekend when Beckenham Town came away from the Erith Sports Stadium with a 1-0 win, courtesy of Daniel Morris’ goal.

“It wasn’t good! Credit to Beckenham, I thought they done really well. We were poor. We were really, really poor and we got what we deserved really,” admitted Russell.

“We certainly came crashing back down to earth and we told the players in the dressing room that the performance wasn’t good enough!”

Herne Bay can reclaim top spot if they win on Saturday - but Russell unveiled tonight the capture of Frenchman Elstrom Die from Fisher.

Die has also played for East Grinstead and Tunbridge Wells this season but Russell insists he is the man to get the best out of the pacy attacker.

“We played against him and he caused us a lot of problems so we’ve got him in, which is a good addition and he will go straight in on Saturday,” said Russell.

“He will give us a new dimension going forward - pace.

“I’ve had a look at him in training this week and I like what we see. We’ve worked on him, he’s still a little bit raw but we say that to all the players we bring in. We’ve brought four or five new ones in during the last couple of months and what we say to them is we haven’t got the finances that other teams have and have got proven players so we get players who are raw and we’ll back ourselves as a coaching unit, me and Lew (Watts) and we’ll coach them. He shows real promise and we’ll go from there.”

The Dockers stunned Herne Bay with an impressive 4-1 home win only three weeks ago.

“We played theme not so long ago at home and it was a really good game of football,” recalled Russell.

“Herne Bay are a really good footballing side, well organised and for 25 minutes of the first half they put us under pressure that no other team has done to us and it was outstanding pressure, playing good football.

“We’re under no illusions that Herne Bay and Hythe is the hardest away game you’re going to have all year, but as I said to the boys on Wednesday, we had a chat at training, this team is pretty new. We brought in pretty much a new team this year and we’re learning about the players and their reactions. That’s been the key word all week, reaction.

“We’ll go there with a game plan we’ve been working on all week and we’ll give it a go.”

Russell added: “There’s total respect to them, I think they’re a really, really good side and if we finish above Herne Bay in the league we’re pretty close.”

Russell expressed his thoughts on the Kent League title race, although his side have played the most games (nineteen) than all of the five clubs (Herne Bay, Hythe Town, VCD Athletic, Greenwich Borough and Beckenham Town) below them.

“It’s a really good league to be fair,” said Russell. “I haven’t been in the Kent League for a few years as I was with Cray playing and then Thamesmead.

“I’ve been really impressed with the league, it’s so competitive. Every team you play you’ve got to earn the right so everybody beats everybody so there’s going to be lots of twists and turns.

“I won’t even worry about the league. Ten games is a hell of a lot of games in this league and there’s so many points there to be dropped and won.

“We’ve got to concentrate on Herne Bay and then we’ll go back to training and then we’ll talk about how we’re going to win the next game and that’s purely it. I know it’s an old cliché but that’s what we’re going to do.”

Herne Bay boss, Simon Halsey, who tonight has lost seventeen goal striker Stuart King, who has opted to sign for Ryman League Division One North side Thamesmead Town after the two clubs agreed a compensation package - is expecting a tough game.

“It will be a very tough game for us,” he said.

“Tony Russell’s a good footballer, he’s a good coach and he’s done himself justice as a manager at the moment so it will be interesting Saturday. It was their first loss in nine on Saturday against Beckenham so it will be an interesting game.”

Halsey admitted he was “not surprised” to have lost top spot to the Dockers.

He said: “No, no, no, not at all! Not surprised to be knocked off there. I’ve said there will be four or five vying for the title come the end of the season and I’m not too far wrong, still.

“Of course we will have to take advantage Saturday first and foremost. If we can get the points on Saturday it will put us ahead of them with two games in hand.

“It will be a tough game, but they’re all tough. It’s going to be a tough February, March and April for everybody, not just myself and Herne Bay. Everyone’s got to play each other so it’s going to be tough for all of us.”

Meanwhile, holders Herne Bay lock horns with Corinthian in a two-legged semi-final as they bid to retain the Kent League Cup they clinched with a win over Sevenoaks Town last May.

“It’s the Cup we won last year so if we can get there and try and retain it all well and good, but first we have to get past Corinthian over two legs, which will be no easy task,” said Halsey.

“If we’re fortunate enough to do that we’re going to be facing Hythe or VCD so there’s a long way to go yet.

“First and foremost we’ve got to get past Corinthian so it will be interesting to see when the league put out those dates for those fixtures.”

With King now departed, Halsey said he is not looking for an replacement, saying, “I’ve run the rule over a couple this week. No need to jump in as I’ve got plenty of bodies within the club.”

Visit Herne Bay’s website: www.hernebayfc.net

Visit Erith Town’s website: www.erithtownfc.co.uk

Herne Bay v Erith Town

Safety Net Associates Kent League

Saturday 19th February 2011

Kick Off 3:00pm

at Winch’s Field, Stanley Gardens, Herne Bay, Kent CT6 5SG