Paul Piggott has just taken over, a man I respect. He done tremendous with Hollands & Blair last year so we won’t be taking nothing for granted, says Greenwich Borough boss Gary Alexander

GREENWICH BOROUGH manager Gary Alexander says he is wary going into Saturday’s trip against relegation threatened Chatham Town.

Chatham Town have appointed Paul Piggott – the man that masterminded Hollands & Blair’s title challenge against champions Greenwich Borough in the Southern Counties East Football League last season, guiding the Gillingham-based club to runners-up on their debut season at that level.

Alexander comes face to face with Piggott, who has already made his mark at Chatham Town as they came away from Whyteleafe with a 1-0 win in his first game in charge on Tuesday night after taking over from Darren Anslow.

“Every game is a tough game, we’ve seen in recent weeks the results in this league,” said Alexander, who saw his side lose 2-1 at home to Chipstead last Saturday, before bouncing back with a 3 -1 home win over Ramsgate three days later.

“The results in this league on Saturday, you would’ve looked at the results and gone ‘everyone’s been beaten!’ so everyone’s beating everyone, everyone’s fighting for different things and different reasons.

“Chatham are fighting to stay out of the bottom three, we’re fighting to stay in the top five. It’s that close the league so it’s going to be a tough game.

“Paul Piggott has just taken over, a man I respect. He done tremendous with Hollands & Blair last year so we won’t be taking nothing for granted. We’ve got to go there, like every game in the Ryman, we have to be at our best to get three points.”

Greenwich Borough are now third in the Ryman League Division One South table after first half goals from Glenn Wilson, Michael Power and an Oliver Gray own goal sealed the victory over Ramsgate, who took a ninth minute lead through striker Aaron Millbank.

“We’re sitting third in the Ryman, so it’s a tremendous effort from the team but we have to make sure we keep going and make sure we cement our place in there and hopefully we can challenge for that top spot,” said Alexander, whose side are eight points adrift of new league leaders Tooting & Mitcham United.

“But there’s a long way to go, we’ve not even half way through the season yet, so there’s going to be plenty more ups and downs.”

Greenwich Borough return to the DGS Marine Stadium when Tooting & Mitcham United visit next Tuesday night.

The Terrors rose to the summit following their 6-0 win in Guernsey in midweek.

“Every game is a massive game regardless, whether if it’s Tooting, whether it’s Chatham, every game’s a big game,” said Alexander.

“If you up your game five percent you win, it you drop it five percent you get  beat.  That was exactly what happened to us over the weekend, we dropped our standards and we lost.”

Alexander has seen his side play 21 games in the Ryman League Division One South this season, winning 13, drawing two and losing six.

He said: “It’s a good challenge, it’s a good test.  There’s some very good sides in it, which is nice. People say it’s not much tougher than the SCEFL but it’s tougher, boys are fitter, boys are stronger so we have to make sure we maintain ourselves properly and look after ourselves properly and be on it every week because if you’re not on it and you drop your standards, you’ll get beat.”

Visit Greenwich Borough’s website: www.greenwichboroughfc.co.uk

Chatham Town  v  Greenwich Borough
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 3^rd December 2016
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Maidstone Road Sports Ground, Bournville Avenue, Chatham, Kent ME4 6LR