The pressure's back on the players to get a result for the club, says Tonbridge boss Steve McKimm

TONBRIDGE ANGELS boss Steve McKimm says he wants his impressive FA Cup record to rub off on his players for their trip to Redhill on Saturday.



The Angels lost their four match unbeaten run when Leiston came away from Longmead Stadium with a deserved 2-1 win on Tuesday night.

McKimm’s men slipped down to 12^th place in the Ryman Premier League table, having won five, drawn one and lost six of their games.  They have scored 20 and conceded 20 league goals.

Redhill play one division lower than Tonbridge and sit in the bottom five in the Ryman League Division One South table, having collected three wins, two draws and six defeats.

Tonbridge Angels arrived at this stage of the competition after thrashing Herne Bay 6-0 at Longmead Stadium in the First Qualifying Round two weeks ago.

Ironically, Redhill beat Sam Denly’s side 2-1 at home on Tuesday night.

“We’ve already got £3,000 banked for the club,” said McKimm, who will scoop the club another £4,500 should they get through Redhill this weekend.

“We’ll go to Redhill, we’ve had them watched. I watched them last week so we won’t take them lightly.  They’ve been watched twice so we’ll go there and give the best account of ourselves as we can and if we can get through to the next round, happy days for us and the club.

“It will be nice to have a little run but we’ve got a tough team in Redhill coming up against us.

“They’re not going to lay down. Whoever gets the first goal will determine, I think, who wins the game in my opinion.

“We went into the Herne Bay game favourites so I praised the boys for their application in that game because they went out there knowing they were favourites and there was a bit of pressure put on them.

“I don’t do that to them. I let them go out and play because it’s The FA Cup. They have a bit of pressure put on them and they held their nerve and they went and got the result so the same thing is going to be said on Saturday.

“The pressure’s back on the players to go and get a result for the club.”

McKimm hopes his impressive FA Cup record rubs off on his players at his current club.

“Playing wise, I’ve mad the Second Round twice,” reflected a proud McKimm.

“We was fifteen minutes at Hull City from playing Chelsea in the Third Round for Hayes and then a few years’ later I was at Gravesend and we got beat in injury time by Notts County, in the Second Round which would have taken us to Middlesbrough in the Third Round.

“I’ve played in the First Round for Sutton twice and when I was coach there we got to the First Round another two times and the Second Round once so I’ve got a good record.

“I’ve enjoyed The FA Cup as a player and a coach at Sutton. You need a bit of luck along the way.  I remember one year we were away at Ware, we were 1-0 down with ten minutes to go and we beat them 2-1 and then we got Notts County on the television.

“So a bit of luck goes for you, you’ve got half a chance.

“We’ll go on to Saturday and just see how we get on against Redhill.”

When asked about there being a banana skin at Kiln Brow on Saturday, McKimm replied: “Herne Bay was a banana skin. We done our homework on them and we gave them the utmost respect that we could and then the players went out and gave them respect out on the pitch but on the day they were missing some big players – I give Sam that – but in my opinion if they were playing I still think the application the boys put in that day we would have come out winners.”

Tonbridge Angels don’t enjoy a successful record in The FA Cup in recent years but McKimm wants to change that in his first season in charge.

“It will be nice for the players, it will be nice for the club.  There’s a lot of money in The FA Cup now and if the club can earn money by going from round-to-round that’s good for the club.”

Visit Tonbridge Angels’ website: www.tonbridgeangelsonline.co.uk

Redhill  v  Tonbridge Angels
The FA Cup Second Qualifying Round
Saturday 27^th September 2014
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Kiln Brow, Three Arch Road, Redhill, Surrey RH1 5AE