Our aim for the rest of the season is simply to try to keep the points total ticking over, says Hollands & Blair boss Darren Blackburn

HOLLANDS & BLAIR boss Darren Blackburn says he was proud of his squad following their 4-2 win over Sheppey United at Holm Park last weekend.

The Gillingham-based club remain in the bottom three in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division table, having banked 16 points and have 12 games remaining to save their bacon.

Punjab United are five points clear of Blackburn’s side but the two sides in the drop zone are Rusthall (14 points) and Croydon (seven) and those two meet at Croydon Sports Arena tomorrow.

Croydon’s home ground that they hire from their local council has been subject of two vandalism attacks in the past two nights and the club have set up an online fundraising page to raise £5,000.

“Last week I was so proud of the whole squad,” said Blackburn.

“The boys pulled off heroics and finally put together a performance over the whole 90 minutes, which may have come as a surprise to a lot of people but having assembled most of the squad myself and knowing the individual qualities of the players, I thought we might be able to cause an upset.

“Obviously I’m pleased with the result and it was nice to give the supporters and the club members something back after their fantastic support.

“It’s proved a huge three points as Rusthall are putting together some good results and Croydon have a new management team.  No one is going to give up their SCEFL Premier Division status without a huge fight and we feel we’ve got the players with enough fight and quality now to battle through and keep ourselves up.

“Sheppey is an extremely difficult place to go. Sheppey are a strong, well-organised side and their fans are just like ours, extremely loyal and passionate about their club and it’s always a great atmosphere down there.”

Hollands & Blair welcome eleventh-placed side Deal Town to Darland Avenue tomorrow.

“We can’t focus at all on last week now,” said Blackburn.

“We have another extremely tough game tomorrow against Deal and it’s important we try to get something out of the game to add to last week’s positive result.

“I’ve told the lads that they’re only as good as their last game so come tomorrow at 3 o’clock last week doesn’t count for anything!

“We have to be focused on the job in hand and try to take points from another very good side.”

With two clubs suffering relegation at the end of the season, Blackburn is keen to avoid the drop.

“If we can do that then maybe we can start dragging Punjab back into things as we must make our games in hand count for something.

“Our aim for the rest of the season is simply to try to keep the points total ticking over as we don’t know which point or win maybe the one that come the end of the season we look back on and appreciate the most.”

Visit Hollands & Blair’s website: www.hollandsandblair.co.uk

Hollands & Blair  v  Deal Town
Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division
Saturday 9 March 2019
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Star Meadow, Darland Avenue, Gillingham, Kent ME7 3AN