Credit to the boys, they were superb, says Hythe Town boss Scott Porter

HYTHE TOWN boss Scott Porter says he fancies his chances of progressing through to the FA Carlsberg Trophy Second Qualifying Round on Tuesday night.


Hythe Town came away from Hampton & Richmond Borough with a well-deserved 1-1 draw yesterday.

Nick Reeves, who scored from a powerful header from Jake Hobbs’ 38^th minute corner, became only the second player to score past Beavers keeper Rodney Chiweshe in 810 minutes of football.

Lowestoft Town’s Jack Defty also scored past the keeper with a header in Hampton’s last home game.

Hampton & Richmond Borough may be in second place in the Ryman Premier League table, but on their first half performance yesterday, it appeared that they seemed not very interested in The FA Carlsberg Trophy.

Hythe Town go into the replay sitting at the foot of the Ryman League Division One South table, with four points from as many games, but they do have games in hand to climb up the table.

Corinthian Casuals’ 1-1 draw against Herne Bay sent Porter’s side to the foot of the table –but Porter is focusing on causing another famous giant-killing when they welcome Mark Harper’s side to Reachfields Stadium.

Porter hopes Harper and his side will have their FA Cup Third Qualifying Round trip to Bury Town next Saturday on their minds when they travel down to the Kent coast.

Porter said: “They won’t fancy us.  I wanted to get something out of the game.  We knew the situation with them. We proved it when we played them because they’re flying high. 

“They’ve got the FA Cup, the League and things like that so it was probably the least important competition but it’s a massive, it’s a big competition for us.  There’s a lot of money involved and we like the Cup shocks and hopefully we can finish off the job on Tuesday.”

Hythe Town have already banked £2,300 following their 4-0 home win over Ware in the Preliminary Round and they will collect a further £2,550 if they win on Tuesday night.  The draw for the next round will take place tomorrow lunchtime.

Porter can call upon former Margate player Craig Cloke (unavailable) and striker Craig Thompson (suspended) for the replay, against a club that were playing Blue Square Bet (Conference) South football last season.

When asked whether he’ll make changes for the home tie, Porter said: “We’ve got a few days to look at it and analyse things, go through things and I’m sure we’ll pick the right team for Tuesday.”

Meanwhile, Porter criticised Reading-based referee Christopher Wicks after the team bus didn’t arrive at Beveree Stadium until 40 minutes before kick-off.

“We took a detour round everywhere and went through little towns and things like that and the time was getting on and on and then you go into the ref’s room at twenty-past-two and he says you’ve got enough time to get on with it.

“But the three players who came on their own (Tassar Hassan, Jake Hobbs and George Savage) two of them were starting and they got here at twenty-to-three so I don’t understand why the ref would do it.  They (our opponents) didn’t seem to have a problem with it but it was down to the ref but it worked.

“Credit to the boys, they were superb. We mixed it and matched it with them and you wouldn’t have noticed who the Ryman Premier League side were.”

Visit Hythe Town’s website: www.hythetownfc.co.uk

Hythe Town  v  Hampton & Richmond Borough
The FA Carlsberg Trophy First Qualifying Round Replay
Tuesday 2^nd October 2012
Kick Off 7:45pm
At Reachfields Stadium, Fort Road, Hythe, Kent CT21 6JS