Luchford upbeat despite Gills' thrashing

FAVERSHAM TOWN joint-manager Justin Luchford remains upbeat, despite his side being totally outclassed by Coca-Cola League Two neighbours Gillingham on Thursday night, writes Tony Gray.

A packed Salters Lane crowd were entertained by a Gillingham side keen to impress, following their home defeat to Blue Square Premier side Stevenage Borough two days earlier.

Despite the 8-0 defeat, Luchford was full of praise for his Lilywhite side that more than matched their opponents for the opening 30 minutes.

He said: “We need to remember these guys are full time professional footballers and are five leagues above us, they do this for a living!

“Our guys try to train twice a week whilst juggling a full time job, while they prepared for the game all day yesterday our boys were working all day.

“The lads that played, were a credit to themselves. We had an 18 year old in goal, who showed why he is a great prospect for this club.

“I don't think there is a Kent League manager out there that would not expect to get beat heavily by a Football League side,” he told www.favershamtownfc.co.uk.

Faversham Town keeper Rob Hudson did well to deny Mark Bentley on seven minutes whilst the home side went close on 14 minutes - a cross in to the near post was headed on by Jimmy Strouts to the feet of Dane Luchford with his strike just wide of Simon Royce's upright.

Andy Pugh and Andrew Crofts both went close for the visitors with Simon Brown doing well to force Royce into action at the other end, the Gills keeper dropping to deny Brown's well struck effort.

However, the deadlock was broken on 32 minutes when Dennis Oli collected the ball to run into the left side of the Faversham area before striking the ball low past the unfortunate Hudson.

Adam Miller should have doubled their lead three minutes later with a neat flick at the near post which was well blocked by Hudson.

The home side continued to make a game of it with Luchford having a close range effort well saved by Royce.

Faversham defender Dan Whelan was forced to make a goal line clearance, heading clear a powerful strike from Crofts before the Gills scored their second of the evening courtesy of a well struck effort on 38 minutes, hit from outside of the area Crofts saw his effort fly into the top right hand corner of the goal.

Hudson denied Pugh from close range on 38 minutes before the Gills striker hit a 25 yard screamer into the top right corner of Hudson's goal giving the 18 year old keeper no chance to even get close.

Minutes later and the visitors added a third through John Nutter who was the first to react to a deflected ball within the area firing the ball into the home side's net.

The pressure continued right up the whistle with the Gills netting for goal number four on the stroke of half-time with a well taken strike from Miller.

Both sides made the obligatory changes at the break with Gills boss Mark Stimson changing all 10 of his outfield players.

It may have been a different Gills side but the visitors continued as they finished the first period as Simeon Jackson latched on to a through ball from Gary Richards after three minutes of the second half.

It was Jackson who continued the scoring adding goal number six on 56 minutes running into the box to neatly chip the ball over the advancing Hudson.

The impressive Jackson completed his hat-trick on 75 minutes before Faversham skipper Roy Guiver turned a cross into his own net to round off the scoring for the visiting Medway outfit.

Despite the scoreline it was certainly not all one-way traffic with the Kent League hosts creating far more chances than they had done in Saturday's match against Ryman Premier League side Dover Athletic, who had won 1-0 last Saturday, courtesy from a breakaway goal from former Gills striker, Frannie Collin.

The hard working Luchford had an effort smothered in front of goal, Luchford also had a hand in Faversham Town's best chance of the half supplying a cross into the area to find Jimmy Strouts in space, the 37 year old joint manager, arguably Faversham Town's star man on the night, connected with the ball sending his shot narrowly over Royce's crossbar.

At the final whistle both teams were warmly applauded by the Salters Lane crowd - Gillingham for an impressive footballing display, the Lilywhites for their guts and determination in, what was always going to be an uphill challenge.

Not many Kent League sides would be able to stage matches against the full-strength Dover Athletic and Gillingham.

And Luchford said: "What an absolutely fantastic evening for the club and the town."

"Jimmy (Strouts) and I were finalising our thoughts before the game on the pitch and we saw a couple of the car parking attendants parking the cars onto our training pitch. Jimmy turned to me and said, "what on earth are they doing, we won't get that many through the gate !!" - I tended to agree, but for what was to follow even Jimmy couldn't believe.

“A packed house at Salter's Lane ? - People queuing outside the entrance to the ground to get to the turnstiles?

“As I walked to the dugout I took a look around me and felt very proud to be part of this club, as did Jimmy.

“To have over 1,200 through the gate was fantastic. Travelling Gillingham fans, our own fans, mums and dads, loads of Faversham youngsters, absolutely brilliant. It epitomised what this club is all about.

“To have two teams of Faversham youngsters leading the teams out was great. An evening they, an we will remember for a long time and a great curtain raiser for the new season.

“Jimmy and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Gillingham for coming down to us, it is quite a drop down from their League status so we felt privileged that they decided to come to us.

“Special thanks must go to Mark Patterson (Gillingham U18's manager) and Mark Stimson (Gills manager) for getting this game on.

“At first we expected some kind of Gillingham XI, but for them to bring pretty much their 1st team was fantastic.

“Mark Stimson was most impressed with the pitch and the facilities and for that credit must go to Dave Payne and Ray Mills.

“Let's hope that Gillingham enjoyed it as much as we did and that next year they will pay us a return visit , maybe as League 2 Champions!”

Despite their eight-goal thrashing, Luchford paid tribute to his players.

“As for the game itself, I thought we were excellent,” he said.

“When we had the ball, we played and we didn't hide, we kept our shape very well other than the last 12 minutes of the first half and I believe five of the goals came from outside the box.

“Roy (Guiver), unfortunately, got himself on the scoresheet at the wrong end, which makes him the top scorer at the club for this season so far!

“It was quite a contrast from the Dover game, I thought we froze a bit on Saturday and were a bit jaded, but we kept our shape well.

“Against Gillingham I quite expected us to freeze but we didn't - even when each goal went in we kept trying to play and kept working hard. To have the last real chance in the game before the final whistle speaks volumes for the work-rate of the players.”

Luchford takes the positives from both games for their Kent League campaign, which kicks off in three weeks time.

“There are things to work on, but ultimately there were a huge amount of positives to take from the game, the players at the end were in a very upbeat mood, as they knew they had done well and also they are all excited about getting started now,” he said.

“Jimmy (Strouts) showed last night that he still has a huge part to play in the team this season, having struggled with Pneumonia in the last couple of months and having only trained twice, to complete 90 minutes in the manner he did is a benchmark for all the players. He is 37 and fitter than most at the club, that is a target for the others.

“There were some good performances last night, all the full backs did well, as did the central defenders and the midfielders.

“Dave Souton, showing us why we wanted to sign him so much. Simon Brown looked good on his debut, especially when he went out wide, and I must have a word for Dane, Dane, as you are aware is my brother, and I am his hardest critic and he probably takes alot more criticism from me than anyone else, but his performance was exceptional, to play as a lone striker against Gillingham's defence is a tough ask.

“He held the ball up, linked play and didn't let them settle for a minute for the entire game. There are one or two things with him that Jimmy and I need to work on and sort out, but he has come back looking sharp and fitter than before, and with performances like that, he will be looking to have a good season. “

Faversham Town look forward to a visit from Ryman League Division One South side Folkestone Invicta next Tuesday, 22^nd July (7:45pm).

And Luchford said: “We said in the summer it would be great to have two showpiece games for the club and the town and we have done that now.

“We will train Saturday and then prepare for Folkestone next Tuesday where the real work starts.

“The squad is close to being finalised and we will close everything on Tuesday night after the Folkestone game.

“Finally, once again thanks to the people that come through the gate. We are hopeful now they have had a taster they will want to come back for more.

“The club keeps moving in the right direction due to the people off the pitch as well. The Committee have been superb, and they deserve the credit for Thursday night, as a few years ago this sort of thing would never of happened.

“The club works hard behind the scenes all the time, Jimmy and I know they are behind us and we will continue to work with them to progress."

Article courtesy of www.favershamtownfc.co.uk 

DID YOU KNOW?
Thursday night’s crowd at Salters Lane was the largest gate attracted by a Kent League club for ten months. Hythe Town attracted a crowd of 1,109 for their shock 2-1 home win over Dover Athletic in their FA Cup Second Qualifying Round clash on 29^th September 2007.