Faversham aiming for top five finish

Cordice is certainly not bothered by a pre-season friendly record that reads played four, lost four with 14 goals against and a big fat zero in the goals for column.

Cordice has a plan and he is convinced his strategy of playing sides much higher up the football pyramid will pay off when re-born Faversham Town finally kick-off their debut season in the Kent League at home to VCD Athletic on 12 August.

Faversham Town's manager did not win a single game last summer with seven pre-season games producing five defeats and two draws yet the Lilywhites still went on to win promotion.


And Cordice is hoping to follow a similar pattern this time around after plotting a demanding schedule that has seen Town mixing it with the likes of Cray Wanderers, Folkestone Invicta and Irish champions Cork City.

He explained: "We're getting there. We are definitely improving with every game. We've been working hard in training and this was another great work-out for the boys.

"They were really blowing there at the end in all this heat and that will stand us in good stead when the season starts. I am banking on us being fitter than most.

"I'm really not bothered about our results. That was definitely our best performance so far. We never allowed them to settle and competed throughout.

"We showed alot of passion out there, alot of fight. The goals will come and I cannot wait for our first league game."

Cordice's words about this game being all about fitness and not the result were echoed by Sittingbourne manager Steve Lovell.

Nevertheless, Faversham Town's goal for the next Bob Amor Memorial Cup match must be to threaten rather than merely compete because they barely mustered a single shot all afternoon.

In fairness, Sittingbourne struggled to create much themselves and were flattered by a scoreline bolstered by two rather fortunate goals in the last four minutes.

Julian Beal, John Goodwin and James Holder were the pick of the bunch for Faversham Town on a day when Cordice’s men held their own in defence and midfield but never committed enough men forward to do any damage in attack.

Andy Martin worked hard in attack but was left to feed on scraps against a rock solid back line marshalled expertly by Brickies skipper James Campbell, the former Peterborough defender.

Cordice is hoping to sign two new forwards before the start of the league campaign but he has yet to see the best of the current crop given the dearth of goal-scoring opportunities this summer.

Indeed, 5-3-2 is all well and good but when the wing backs fail to provide options going forward and the defence sits deep, you inevitably end up stuck in your own half for prolonged periods.

And so it proved on Saturday although there were a number of positives including the performance of triallist Wes Hammond who brought a much-needed voice to the defence and looked solid throughout.

Beal is also on the comeback trail and should thrive against better players if this performance is anything to go by. He twisted and turned in midfield to find his team-mates with a succession of short passes.

And if he continues to work on his fitness and can find a few killer balls then Faversham Town will finally see a player who could and should be plying his trade in at least the Ryman League.

Holder is another player who would not look out of place at that level. Indeed, Faversham Town must surely have a job on their hands keeping the 6ft 5in defender.

Indeed, if his dad Peter - Cordice's highly vocal No 2 - does nothing else this season but convince the lad his future lies at Salters Lane then he will have done the club a great service.

Bourne fired the 18th-minute opener after Faversham Town's best spell of the first half with Kieran Marsh the architect in chief, delivering a quality ball in to the far post from the right.

Dave Hockley lost track of Clint Gooding who nodded the ball across goal for the unmarked Andy Doerr to head home from close range with Tim Holmes stranded.

Cordice will have been encouraged by the way Faversham Town held their own against Lovell's Ryman League boys and goalkeeper Holmes - like his opposite number for Bourne - was a virtual spectator after the break. 

Only a combination of dubious refereeing and poor goalkeeping allowed Bourne to move clear at the death with Richard Gamble adjudged to have pulled Doerr's shirt in the box.

Gamble later admitted to grabbing a handful of polyester but Doerr appeared to hit the deck seconds later after somehow tripping himself up as he moved off towards the corner flag.

Doerr took the penalty himself and let fly with an emphatic shot that crashed into the net off the underside of the crossbar.

Bourne made it 3-0 when Kris Parker's handball 25 yards out gave Marsh the chance to send in a tame right-foot effort that somehow bounced over Holmes at the near post.

Campbell held aloft the trophy for the second time in 12 months and Cordice was cool with that. The man with the plan cares about nothing else other than VCD, August 12, Salters Lane.

Faversham Town:  Tim Holmes, Lee Whitehead (Stuart Smith 45), Jason Mills (Bradley Maguire 57), Wes Hammond, James Holder (Richard Gamble 74), Kris Parker, Julian Beal, Dave Hockley (Lee Skinner 57), Andy Martin (Mark Roberts 70), John Goodwin (Mark Smith 84), Dean Abrahams (Adam Hewitson 45)0

Meanwhile, Cordice is optimistic Marcus Hodges will sign Kent League forms for Faversham Town before the start of the new season on 12 August.

Bromley Green striker Hodges had Lilywhite fans scratching their eyes in disbelief after making a surprise appearance in Faversham Town's starting line-up for last Wednesday's pre-season friendly against Folkestone Invicta.

And boss Cordice is upbeat about his chances of striking a deal with a player who agreed to sign on at Salters Lane in February only to do a U-turn and stay with the Ashford side.

Cordice explained that Hodges was persuaded to try out for Town after a series of phone calls with assistant manager Peter Holder and new coach Paul Copley.

Hodges - the top scorer in the Kent County League's Premier Division last season with 27 goals - is to get married this month and Cordice believes he could well sign for Town on his return from honeymoon.

He revealed: "Pete and Copes had both phoned Marcus and I was pleased when he showed up. He did really well against Folkestone who brought a good side down.

"He showed us what he can do and now we'll have to wait and see what he decides. I can't be sure if Marcus will definitely sign but I'm optimistic. He'd be a great addition to the squad."

Cordice explained that Faversham Town showed Invicta too much respect but improved as the match went on at Salters Lane.

He said: "I guess they kind of bullied us in the first half - we were far too nice if you know what I mean.

"Looking back, they were not as impressive as the Sittingbourne side we played on Saturday but nevertheless they were a very good side.

"We had our moments, however, and had a few chances second half through Andy Martin and Mark Roberts."

The game started with the unusual sight of Cordice - a qualified referee - running one of the lines after an assistant referee failed to show up at Salters Lane.

At least it gave him the chance to take a close look at Hodges who did reasonably well on debut against some quality defenders from the Ryman League Premier Division side.

Folkestone took the lead after five minutes when Adam Flanagan hit a perfect left-foot volley into the top corner from 20 yards.

Former Dover Athletic star Matt Carruthers doubled the lead on 34 minutes after cutting across the penalty area before shooting back across Tim Holmes in the Faversham goal.

Carruthers added his second and Invicta's third four minutes later, chipping Holmes from the right corner of the box.

Dane Luchford fired Folkestone's fourth goal on 65 minutes with a powerful shot from 10 yards after good work down the right.

Article courtesy of www.favershamtownfc.co.uk