Results in friendlies do matter, says Cray Wanderers' boss Ian Jenkins

IAN JENKINS may be away on his holidays in Turkey but he still wants his Cray Wanderers side to maintain their 100% record in pre-season, writes Stephen McCartney.




The Wands opened their pre-season campaign with a 2-1 win over landlords Bromley to win the Burt Girling Cup and have followed that up with wins over Kent League sides VCD Athletic and Fisher last weekend.

With Jenkins and coach Paul Blade on their hols, assistant manager Joe Francis and defender Tony Dolby will take charge of team affairs, starting with Saturday’s trip to Lordswood.

“A lot of people say friendlies don’t matter, I think they do,” said Jenkins, after goals from Chris Saunders (2), Luke Coleman (penalty) and Tommy Whitnell secured a 4-2 win at Fisher last Sunday.

“Results in friendlies do matter.  I said to the boys we’ve got nine friendlies, let’s get nine wins.  We’ve got three out of three, so long may that continue!”

Cray Wanderers found themselves 2-0 down against Steve Firkins’ impressive side, but Jenkins explained what pleased him the most, especially after playing two games in two days.

“Fitness!  Fitness is always the key.  We’ve trained four times a week so it’s really showing,” said Jenkins.

Jenkins praised the professionalism from Dolby, as he will play a part in the club’s preparations for their Ryman Premier League campaign, which kicks off against AFC Hornchurch at Hayes Lane on Sunday, 21 August.

Jenkins said: “Tony’s fantastic, a proper professional, isn’t he.  He’ll help in any way he can.  He’s still a player.  He said if any manager’s job came up and if he was interested he’ll take it.  I’ve got him as a player and his experience does help the youngsters.”

After such a tough pre-season training regime, Jenkins revealed that the team trained last night and will have a team bonding session tomorrow night ahead of their game against Jason Lills’ side, who held Ramsgate to a 1-1 home draw last night.

“I’m going to Turkey for two weeks so I’m going to enjoy my holiday.  Blado’s (Blade) taking the team Tuesday, Blado’s away Thursday so it’s down to Joe for the next (few) friendlies so good luck to him!  Joe will be in charge and Tony Dolby will be helping out as well.”

Cray Wanderers travel to Holmesdale (Oakley Road, Bromley) for another pre-season friendly next Monday, 1^st August.

Meanwhile, the club confirmed that chairman Gary Hillman has met with Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London.

"It was basically an evening do saying well done to people who do voluntary work for their communities in the London boroughs of Bromley and Bexley,” said a statement from Mr Hillman, published on www.craywands.co.uk.

"It was the ideal opportunity for me to involve the new architects for the Sandy Lane Project with the community and to take advantage of some networking.

"The planners and I found the occasion ideally appropriate to build up the support and awareness within City Hall for the new ground development. Fortunately for us, the Mayor was around at City Hall for this function and was ready to hear what we had to say, which is very encouraging."

The chairman said that he has decided to secure the services of architect company Pellings for the new ground development work.
 
"We chose Pellings because they believe wholeheartedly in the overall project and their credentials suit our way of thinking." he said.

"Pellings also have relationships with hotels and leisure chains and have been very successful with similar projects in the area. These include the Bromley college extension on green belt land, a new Travelodge hotel in Bromley and a new hotel and residential development in Bexleyheath to name just a few positives."

As well as the anticipated new football stadium, which will see Cray Wanderers return to the area of their formation of over 150 years ago, there's also the possibility of a brand new hotel build on the same site which will be adjacent to the football ground.

The approval of planning permission for the stadium will mean a solid future for London's oldest association football club, whilst the go ahead to build the hotel will result in the creation of many new jobs and the regeneration of the area as a whole.

Additional reporting from Trevor Mulligan – www.craywands.co.uk  

Lordswood  v  Cray Wanderers
Pre-Season Friendly
Saturday 30^th July 2011
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Martyn Grove, North Dane Way, Walderslade, Kent ME5 8YE