I can't see Herne Bay slipping up too much, says VCD Athletic boss Ricky Bennett

VCD ATHLETIC manager Ricky Bennett says he wants to win something at the end of the season.



The Crayford based club became only the fourth side to beat Herne Bay in all competitions this season when Michael McKenna scored a last minute goal to beat Simon Halsey’s side 1-0 in the first leg of the Macron Kent League Cup last Tuesday.

Vickers will take a slender one-goal advantage to Winch’s Field for next Wednesday’s second leg, to see which side will lock horns with Woodstock Sports or Corinthian in the showpiece final.

VCD Athletic are the only side to beat Herne Bay in the Kent League this season and the other teams to beat them were Erith Town (FA Cup) and Sevenoaks Town (Umbro Kent Senior Trophy).

When asked how his side beat Herne Bay, Bennett replied, “Well, with difficulty! It was a tough game, very tight.  It could have been a draw, 0-0 looked likely towards the end of the game. It could have been 2-2 or 3-3, lots of chances from both sides.

“We worked hard to be honest. We needed to bounce back from Saturday’s dismal display at Canterbury, although our football wasn’t great or free-flowing as such, it was a really disciplined and solid display from us.”

Next week’s second leg is very much up for grabs, as Vickers bid to beat Herne Bay, who have won the Cup two years’ running, following wins over Sevenoaks Town and Hythe Town.

Bennett said: “Let’s be honest, most teams would want to go to Herne Bay with a bit more than one goal advantage, but we’re glad that we’ve got it.

“I wouldn’t say we were lucky that we got that.  It was a great finish on the night. It’s going to be tough there.  Is one goal going to be enough?  I don’t know.

“We have to have a look at how we’re going to play and set-up.  We’ve been there before this season and not conceded, although we didn’t score ourselves.

“We know they’re going to be right up for it, obviously.  Knowing Simon as I do, he doesn’t like losing football matches.  He won’t want a record that doesn’t look too great against ourselves, I’m sure.”

Bennett’s side are presently in third place in the table, with 42 points from 20 games, 11 points behind Herne Bay, who have THAT two-legged semi-final against Northern League West Auckland Town to look forward to in the FA Carlsberg Vase on 24 and 21 March.

“When I spoke to you way back in pre-season we wanted to win something this year, regardless of who we’re playing in the semi-final,” added Bennett.

“We’ve had a hard run to the semi’s, knocking out Tunbridge Wells and Beckenham along the way.

“We’ve got another real tough nut to crack and then get to the final and then we’ll have a good chance of winning something, like we set out to do.

“We have to get there first!”

But before their trip to Herne Bay, Vickers return to Kent League action, with a visit from Micky Collins’ Erith & Belvedere tomorrow, who will contest the Umbro Kent Senior Cup Final against Sevenoaks Town this season.
 
“Another tough game,” said Bennett. “They’ve been around the top four, I think, for most of the season, scored lots of goals, a good side.

“We know it’s going to be a hard game. Hopefully we’ve just had a little blip. A couple of bad performances, at Fisher when we got the result but didn’t perform well at all and then a real poxy performance at Canterbury, where we got what we totally deserved.

“Hopefully that is now out of our system. With the win the other night should be a good boost and we have to get back on track.”

Erith Town (43 points), VCD Athletic (42), Tunbridge Wells (40), Erith & Belvedere (39) and Canterbury City (39) are all in with a shout for second-place.

Bennett added:  “We won six on the spin and if we won at Canterbury we’d be eight points behind Herne Bay and we looked to it, they get to their semi-final of the Vase come the second leg we could have been two points behind them, although they will have games in hand, but then that will be added pressure that nobody really wants.

“We’re still going to keep going until the end.  Let’s be fair, I can’t see Herne Bay slipping up too much to be honest, but to get second is still something we want to achieve, regardless we just want to finish the season as strong as possible and an improvement on last year.”

Visit VCD Athletic’s website: www.vcdathletic.co.uk

VCD Athletic  v  Erith & Belvedere
Kent Hurlimann Football League
Saturday 10^th March 2012
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Oakwood, Old Road, Crayford, Kent DA1 4DN