Walkers making steady progress ahead of big Kent derby

Two Maidstone United fans, Geoff Hunt and James Ingarfield have already walked from the site of the club’s new ground at Whatman Way in the County town to Ashford as they bravely walk over forty miles to Dover Athletic’s Crabble ground ahead of Saturday’s BIG Ryman League Division One South Kent derby, writes Stephen McCartney.

Geoff and James set off at Whatman Way at 7:30 this morning and by 5pm had already walked to Ashford.

They stay in Ashford over night before setting off on their second leg of their journey tomorrow to Folkestone and then onto Dover when they will receive a heroes welcome at Crabble ahead of the much-anticipated Kent derby between two sides in the top five.

More fans, Chris Smoker, Paul Hawkins and Richard Nott are setting out tomorrow morning as they attempt the same route with just one stop off.

Then finally at 6pm on Friday night, the “Oakwood Stones” will be setting off and walking through the night to reach the game by 3pm the next day.

And at least 2,000 fans, most travelling by train or car, are expected at Crabble.

Terry White has warned his Dover players that some of them may be among the anticipated 2,000 fans at Crabble, writes Justin Allen.

The Whites caretaker-boss admitted his blood is still boiling after his team were hammered 4-1 at Tooting and Mitcham.

True, the hosts did not deserve to win the game by such a margin – but the manner of Dover’s performance got his alarm bells ringing.

White told www.doverathletic.com  : “Frankly, it was not good enough. After 10 minutes, I was happy with the way things were going and was telling Steve Nolan that if we get the first goal we could end up winning comfortably.

“But then after 30 minutes, we were 3-0 down. The way we collapsed was alarming. Some of the players were not pulling their weight and I’ve been in the game long enough to know when someone is pretending to put in a shift, when in fact they are not.

“I won’t put up with that and players will learn that when they’re not in the team. I’m not afraid to make changes – and I’ll be making changes for the Maidstone game.

“We train tonight (Thursday) and I will make my mind up on the team line-up afterwards.

“I want to see a reaction to that defeat on Tuesday. As well as Tooting played, we should not have been beaten by that scoreline. The overall performance was poor.”

Big Tel took some stick for cautious tactics that reaped a goalless stalemate at Leatherhead a week earlier. In hindsight, he wish he had applied the same tactics for the Tooting game.

He said: “We took a lot of stick for not being attack-minded enough at Leatherhead – but sometimes you have to play that way in games. We didn’t go to Leatherhead looking for a point. We went there with the intention of keeping it tight and trying to nick a win – or at the very least get a point.

“At Tooting we tried to be a bit more expansive and look what happened. But that’s not an excuse for the performance, which simply was not up to the standard expected by Dover Athletic.”

Managers up and down the country all have one thing in common. They are the best thing since sliced bread after a win – and questioned after a defeat. Terry is no different.

But one comment did make him chuckle this week.

He said: “I don’t go on these Internet forums because I’ve never been very good with computers. But one of my mates is well into it and he was looking at some comments from fans.

“There was a call for me to bring back Danny Chapman and John Keister into the team. Only a couple of weeks ago, I was saluted for apparently dropping them!

“I do want us to play entertaining football and to attack. It’s probably too late in the season to completely overhaul the way we play because a style has already been instilled into the players.

“What we could do is mix it up a bit and be more creative. We certainly need to pass the ball a lot better – otherwise we’ll struggle to open teams up in the final third. That is something we can improve now.”

Big Tel has also told his players they are playing for their futures at the club too and if he is still in charge of first-team affairs, juicy contracts will not be handed out to under-performing players.

He said: “Sadly, there are a few players who are not hungry and seem content with their contracts. That’s not a dig at experienced players here – I am talking about players of all age groups.

“If I am in charge in the summer, we won’t be handing out super-duper deals to these kind of players. I want hungry players here who want to play at the level we’re at and a division higher.”

Terry has recently held talks with former Manchester City, Leyton Orient and Luton striker Carl Griffiths.

The experienced Welsh target man – like other targets – did not want to join Dover Athletic due to the unfortunate position the club currently find themselves in on the managerial front.

Big Tel said: “I’m not going to complain about this because I knew the remit when I came here - it is to look after the team all the while Clive Walker is recovering from his back problem.

“It is a bit of an handicap when trying to attract players here and the location of Dover also puts players off at Ryman One level.

“Lewes have offered us a couple of players but their manager doubts whether they will want to travel to Dover to play for us.

“But I can assure our fans that no-one is working harder than me to try to bring fresh players to the club.”

Terry is aware of the dangers Maidstone will present Dover and has had them watched a couple of times.

He said: “I’ve got a good idea how they are going to set their team up against us and we’re going to need to produce a good performance if we’re to beat them.”

Meanwhile, chairman Jim Parmenter is expecting a crowd of more than 2,000 for the battle between two Kent clubs back on the up.

Whites and their old friends from Maidstone have had to endure troubled times - but both towns once again have senior teams that are challenging for honours.

The season Dover were promoted to the Conference in 1993, Maidstone, along with Dartford, went bust in a well-documented sucker blow to Kent football.

Dover have managed to survive huge problems of their own in recent seasons - although that has come at a cost: three relegations have seen the River End faithful have to adjust from watching the likes of Rushden, Woking and Yeovil to enduring life in Ryman One South.

But, ironically, it is Whites, Dartford and Maidstone who are at the top of the table battling it out for two of the available promotion places.

And Maidstone coming to town has already got the town buzzing.

Mr Parmenter told www.doverathletic.com  : "This is a massive game for both clubs and the kind of game we love to stage at Crabble.

"The Stones have excellent support and will bring down a huge number of fans. It should make for an excellent atmosphere and we're expecting a crowd of around 2,000 for this one.

"Hopefully, the fans will see a good match - but with the three points staying in Dover. However, it's a tough game - and one that Maidstone will be every bit as desperate to win too.

"At the end of the season, the points up for grabs on Saturday could prove crucial with things so tight at the top of the table."

Mr Parmenter was quick to pay tribute to Stones chairman Paul Bowden-Brown for his plans to go it alone with plans to build a new stadium in Maidstone after backers pulled out.

He said: "The stadium might not be as flash as first hoped but Paul deserves enormous credit for going ahead with getting the Stones back to Maidstone.

"He is clearly ambitious and wants to get that club back up the ladder - and this is another step in that journey."

He described Tuesday's 4-1 defeat at Tooting and Mitcham as "unacceptable" and will, like all Dover fans, expect a positive response at Crabble.

He said: "The form has pretty much been the same throughout the season. Terry White has maintained the kind of form we were on before Clive Walker had to take sick leave.

"We are still in a strong position - top of the table - and it's up to the team to keep us there. Hopefully, we'll still be there at 4.45 on Saturday."

Meanwhile, Mr Parmenter has confirmed the game will NOT be segregated.

He said: "There are no safety concerns and relations between the two sets of fans is good."

* Are you one of the fans that walked from Maidstone to Dover? www.kentishfootball.co.uk would like to hear from you - please click on Contact us.

* To make a donation to assist with Maidstone United's return home, please visit www.maidstoneunited.co.uk    At the time of writing this article £35.00 has been raised. via the club's website.

Visit club websites:

www.doverathletic.com

www.maidstoneunited.co.uk

Dover Athletic v Maidstone United
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 10^th February 2007
Kick Of 3:00pm
At Crabble, Lewisham Road, River, Dover, Kent CT17 0JB