Thamesmead Town boss Terry Spillane: Everyone you talk to at this level say it’s important and it will be nice to have a little run in FA Trophy, not just for the money, for the kudos of it

THAMESMEAD TOWN boss Terry Spillane says enjoying a run in The FA Trophy adds kudus to a club.

The Mead slipped down from second to fifth in the Ryman League Division One North table after losing their top-of-the-table clash at Cray Wanderers to a last-gasp goal from James Duckworth.

Spillane admitted losing like that at Hayes Lane was “a bitter pill to swallow,” but he wants his troops to bounce back against Brightlingsea Regent in The FA Trophy Preliminary Round tomorrow.

Brightlingsea Regent are in seventeenth-place in the division, having won three, drawn three and lost four of their league games and with £2,500 in prize money up for grabs, the Mead boss wants his side to win at Bayliss Avenue tomorrow to seal a home tie against Ramsgate – or Spillane’s former club Maldon & Tiptree - in the next round on 31 October.

“Everyone you talk to at this level say it’s important and it will be nice to have a little run in that, not just for the money, for the kudos of it,” said Spillane.

“We’re never going to win The FA Cup or anything like that but The FA Trophy -  I’m not going to say we’re going to win it - but there’s chances for clubs like ours that can have a little run in it, so hopefully we can do that.

“I know quite a bit about Brightlingsea. They’ve got a couple of my old players from Maldon. They’re a footballing side, very well organised and it’ll be a tough game.

“Obviously I’d rather have someone we didn’t know in a different league or whatever but that’s what the draw is and we’re lucky enough to get a home draw and I fancy our chances as I always do.”

Spillane is now targeting a place in the play-offs after failing to stop Cray Wanderers win their thirteenth home game on the bounce in midweek.

“I think we’ve surprised a few people. We haven’t surprised ourselves because we always feel we can be top eight, nine, 10.  We’re never going to win the league I feel. We’ve got a really good chance of making the play-offs and in the play-offs you’ve got as good enough chance as anyone so that’s our target.

“I’m not going to make remarks about winning the league because I don’t feel we’ve got the money power to do that as some clubs.

“We’ve got a great squad here, a great set of lads, great camaraderie, which we’ve purposely built. We’ve got players with a certain DNA, if you like, a certain type of player and they’re doing well for us at the moment so if we’re there or there abouts at the end of the season, especially in the play-offs, we’ll be delighted.”

When asked what is missing to mount a challenge for the league title, Spilliane replied: “I think bundles of money, it helps. That’s it in a nutshell!

“If you’ve got two, three, four times the amount that we’ve got, you go and get the players who are getting 10-15 goals already this season. It’s not rocket science. If you look at the players that have scored 10 goals already, they cost money and they cost a lot of money and we can’t do that.

“We’re fortunate that we’ve got someone like Tyrus Gordon-Young, who has got six goals and Theo Fairweather-Johnson who has played at a good level, just coming back from injury. They’re not on great money but they’re on good enough money for us to be there or there abouts.

“It is what it is. I’m not going to cry about not having enough money because that’s not me.

“But we do what we can with what we’ve got and at the moment we’re doing, I feel we’re over achieving with what we’ve got and long may it continue.”

Subject to avoiding a replay, Thamesmead Town welcome Maidstone United to Bayliss Avenue twice in the space of 24 hours.

On Monday night the two clubs meet each other in the Kent Reliance Senior Cup First Round, while on Tuesday they lock horns again, this time in The FA Youth Cup Second Qualifying Round.

Spillane added: “That will be a tough game. It will be nice to have a little run in that as well.”

The club confirm that season tickets are only valid for Ryman League games so season ticket holders will have to pay at the turnstiles for these cup ties.

Visit Thamesmead Town’s website:  www.thamesmeadtownfc.com

Thamesmead Town  v  Brightlingsea Regent
The FA Trophy Preliminary Round
Saturday 3^rd October 2015
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Bayliss Avenue, Thamesmead, London SE28 8NJ