We are really pleased with how things have gone so far and with nearly half the season gone we couldn’t have envisaged we would be second in the table, says Stansfeld joint-manager Jamie Phipps

STANSFELD joint-manager Jamie Phipps says there is no pressure on his side going into the second half of the season.

The club are performing beyond expectations in their debut campaign in the ninth-tier of English football and go into the festive period in second-place in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division table with 30 points from 17 games.

Phipps’ and Billy Hamlin’s men are 20 points adrift of runaway league leaders Erith & Belvedere and welcome Lee Roots’ Holmesdale side to Foxbury Avenue on Boxing Day.

The Bromley outfit are in 12^th place in the pecking order with 21 points on the board from their 17 league outings.

Stansfeld go into the game on the back of a poor performance against Erith Town, who claimed a 2-1 win in The FA Vase Third Round on Saturday 3 December, before Andy Constable won his first game in interim charge of Erith & Belvedere with a 2-0 win in the top-of-the-table clash seven days later.

“We have been well below par in our last two games against Erith Town and Erith & Belvedere, losing both games, but we take the positive that we know we can be much better and weren’t well beaten in either against teams that are third and first in the division,” said Phipps, whose side are now a point clear of third-placed Rusthall and two clear of Erith Town.

“We are expecting a really tough game, as they all are in this league, against a Holmesdale side that have improved in the last few games.

“We are really pleased with how things have gone so far and with nearly half the season gone we couldn’t have envisaged we would be second in the table.

“There is also a little bit of disappointment as we feel we have dropped points when we maybe shouldn’t have.

“As for the rest of the season we will just take it game-by-game and see where we wend up at the end of April.  It’s a bit of a cliché, I know, but that is genuinely how we approach things as a group.

“Billy and I are never under pressure from our committee and there are no targets put on us, unlike a lot of other teams with healthy budgets.”

With a zero playing budget, alongside the likes of seventh-placed side Sutton Athletic, and third-from-bottom Fisher, Stansfeld are a club that have to promote from within.

However, with the likes of the Parkinson brothers, Dan and Billy and Tommy Whitnell have added quality to the ranks with Macey Malyon adding steel, determination and hard work to their midfield too in their trusted 5-3-2 formation and a team spirit that money can’t buy, Phipps is keen to continue surprising a few more teams during the second half of the season.

“We have some fantastic youngsters coming through from the under 23’s into our reserves and when called upon, they have done really well in the first-team,” added Phipps, who had this message for their Bermondsey faithful this Christmas.

“Hopefully a few people will want to escape on Boxing Day to come and support the boys and as always we thank them and wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.”

Stansfeld  v  Holmesdale
Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division
Boxing Day, Monday 26 December 2022
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Foxbury Avenue, Chislehurst, Kent BR7 6SD