Our target is not let the title race go to the last game, says Metrogas boss Roy Davies

METROGAS manager Roy Davies says he doesn’t want his club to follow in the footsteps of tomorrow’s opponents Bromley Green.

The Ashford-based club clinched the Haart of Kent County League Premier Division title in 2012 but were denied promotion to the Kent Invicta League due to not having the necessary facilities to progress further.

Davies, meanwhile,  admitted losing out on the title on the last day of last season was a little bit hard to take.

The New Eltham based club had to avoid defeat to grab the title but Fleet Leisure gate-crashed the party to grab a 2-1 victory at Coney Hall’s Tiepigs Lane to ensure leaders Hildenborough Athletic clinched the title with 56 points from 26 games, finishing one point clear of The Gas.

To rub salt into the wounds, Fleet Leisure, who finished their campaign in fourth-place on 47 points, were accepted into the Kent Invicta League because of their groundshare at Rochester United’s Rede Court Road ground.

Davies said: “Did you have to bring that up Stephen?

“I think we chocked on the day,” recalled Davies.

“We never played anything near what I would expect our performances to be and the end result of that was we were unable to score.

“You take positives from things and I’d like to think we’re going to come back stronger this year with our disappointment in the back of our minds.

“Our target is not to let it go to the last game of the season.”

The Gas have certainly put that disappointment on the back burner as they have remained unbeaten in their 12 games in all competitions, winning 10 of them.

Davies said: “Very pleased with the start of the season. I brought in a few new players, which have spiced it up a little bit with competition for places, which all helps. We’ve been quite happy with results.”

Davies says he wants his side to be firing on all fronts this season – by winning all three trophies.

He said: “That (the league title) and the two cups we’re in. We’d like to make a clean sweep. There’s no half measures. 

“I’ve got a big enough squad to cope with injuries, which we’ve had every week to deal with.  We’ve got another one this week, our left-back Sean O’Sullivan is out with a nasty tackle last week, which could have resulted in a broken leg.

“He’s missing this week for us but the squad is big enough and we can cope with those type of situations.”

Bromley Green arrive in New Eltham sitting in the bottom two in the division, with seven points (two wins and a draw) from nine games, sixteen points adrift of Metrogas.

“It’s a funny one really, because two seasons ago they were champions,” said Davies.

“It goes in cycles because teams can’t get promoted or they can’t go anywhere they tend to lose their better players.

“It’s always dangerous to play a side at the bottom because they know they’re not having good results and they’re trying to rectify and you never know that they can get new players’ in.  You always have to be wary of that. Hopefully, we’ll be fully on our mettle hoping to grab three points.”

With Metrogas one point clear of APM Contrast – who play at Bearsted’s Honey Lane ground in Otham – Davies was asked whether the club will be looking to clinch promotion into the Kent Invicta League next season.

“Again, I think you’re better speaking to (club secretary) Tim Morgan about that, he’s more in the loop. I don’t really concern myself with that.

“I would think that we’re still looking to groundshare, if we can’t get the planning permission. I don’t think the planning permission will go through quickly enough for next season unfortunately.

“From our point of view I remember, it’s got to be ten or twelve years ago, we first put our extension in and all our dressing rooms were made to Kent County League standard sizes and that was all done and now the goal posts are changed, pardon the pun, and you’ve got different amenities that have got to be available now and that’s not always available due to the funding – or the lack of it!”

Meanwhile, Metrogas’s excellent start to the campaign hasn’t gone unnoticed by Kent County League representative manager Darren Phillips, who has selected five of the club’s players for two games in December.

Defenders Sean O’Sullivan, Tom Gibbons, midfielders Tom Forster and Danny McKone and striker Pat Hitchin have been called up for games against the Essex Olympian League (a friendly at Rochester United on Wednesday 11 December) and the Dorset Premier League.

Phillips, who quit as the manager of Southern Counties East Football League side Rochester United following their 1-0 defeat at Fisher last Monday, said the side will reach the quarter-finals of the FA Inter-League Cup should they beat Dorset at Chatham Town on Saturday 14 December.

Phillips said: “We had a training session last week. We’ve got a friendly against Essex. We’ve got a lot of players to look at in the Essex game.  We’ve got a rough idea of the eleven that will start the Dorset one.

“We didn’t expect the Dorset game to be so soon, we thought it would be after Christmas!

“There’s a lot of exciting players that will play against Essex. We’ll have a look and go from there.”

Looking ahead to the Dorset game, Phillips said: “We’re close now. Cyril Windiate (the league chairman) is quite excited, win that and we’re in the quarter-finals, so we’ll see what comes out of it.

“There’s definitely players in that league that could definitely step up. It’s just being able to get them together on the same day.”

Davies added: “The standard of football in the (Kent County) Premier, I would suggest that the better sides in there could play easily in the next league up and individual players, with the right application, could play above that standard as well, so I think it’s a decent standard.”

“I think I’m right in saying we had six in the last game and we’ve got five selected for the games coming up in December.

“We’ve always been a progressive club. We always try to bring youngsters through. We’ve got one or two youngsters in the second team who we hope will make the breakthrough into the first team.

“We’re always looking to progress and better ourselves. We’ve got a 100 Club up and running, which we hope will help with funding. At the moment the players pay subs each game and we’re hoping to eradicate that with the funds that the 100 Club generates.

“It’s always forward looking and forward thinking.”

Phillips, meanwhile, has named the Haart of Kent County League Representative Squad to face Essex and Dorset next month:

Goalkeepers: James Bradley (Stansfeld Oxford & Bermondsey Club); Ben Smart (Sheppey & Sheerness United)

Defenders: Ciaran Aldous (Sheppey & Sheerness United); Daniel Bennett (Tudor Sports); Lee DeMaertelaere (Tudor Sports); Tom Gibbons (Metrogas); Rob Jeffrey (Greenways); Jamie Knight (Otford United); Jamie Leggett (Bexley Borough); Dan Mitchell (Staplehurst Monarchs); Ben Tutt (Erith 147 Sports); James Wade (Stansfeld Oxford & Bermondsey Club); Harry Yates (Kennington).

Midfielders: Matt Arber (Erith 147 Sports); Steve Ashmore (Hildenborough Athletic); Danny Beszant (Bexley Borough); Nick Donaldson (Greenways); Tom Forster (Metrogas); Callum Hill (Otford United); Danny McKone (Metrogas); Sean O’Sullivan (Metrogas).

Forwards: Daniel Bradshaw (Sheppey & Sheerness United); Pat Hitchen (Metrogas); Aaron Kleman.

Visit Metrogas’ website: www.pitchero.com/clubs/metrogasfc

Visit the Haart of Kent County Football League website: www.kentcountyfootballleague.co.uk

Metrogas v Bromley Green
Haart of Kent County League Premier Division
Saturday 30^th November 2013
Kick Off 2:00pm
at Metrogas Sports Ground, Marathon Playing Fields, Forty Foot Way, Avery Hill Road, New Eltham, London SE9 2EX