BACKING THE FLEET TO WEMBLEY GLORY: GETTING TO WEMBLEY AGAIN WILL BE A GREAT ACHIVEMENT - LOVELL

WEMBLEY WINNER Steve Lovell backs Ebbsfleet United to return to Wembley Stadium for the second year running, writes Stephen McCartney.

Welshman Lovell, now manager of Ashford Town, bagged a FA Vase winners medal back in 2000, when he helped Deal Town defeat Chippenham Town 1-0 in the last Vase final to be played underneath the twin towers.

And tomorrow, Liam Daish’s Ebbsfleet United bid to return to Wembley, having lifted the FA Trophy last May, courtesy of THAT famous 1-0 win over Torquay United.

But they will have to do it the hard way, as last Saturday they salvaged a 3-2 defeat at Stevenage Borough, despite biting back from being 2-0 down at the half-time interval.

But with a passionate Stonebridge Road faithful getting behind the Kent side, Lovell, speaking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk says the Fleet will do it again.

“They’re 3-2 down in the first leg, which is again a great achievement that Liam and Alan Kimble have done there,” said Lovell, a former boss at Stonebridge Road.

“Having won it last year it’s very hard to emulate the season before, but if they achieve that, it will be great for them to finish the job off and get into the final again.

“It will be a marvellous achievement.”

Lovell admitted winning the FA Vase, for Tommy Sampson’s Deal, was the highlight of his non-league career, following his glittering professional career, which included playing for Millwall and Gillingham.

“I went to Wembley as a player with Deal in the FA Vase final and that was a great occasion,” recalled Lovell, whose Ashford Town side play a make-or-break game against Fleet Town at Homelands tomorrow.

“That was a great occasion and it will be great for Kent football if they got to Wembley again, because it will be a great achievement to do it two years running.

“It was certainly my highlight in non-league terms, definitely in non-league terms. When you’ve been a professional for sixteen years, every day is a high because you want to play football and I did it day in, day out for sixteen years.

“In non-league football you realise how much you miss it, when you train twice a week and play on a Saturday.

“So (winning) the FA Vase, being a player at 40 years of age and being a grandfather was the highlight of my non-league career.”

Lovell, who managed Alan Kimble’s brother Garry, whilst at the Central Park version of Sittingbourne, also recalled that he played against Daish when they were younger.

And Rainham resident Lovell will be looking out for the Fleet’s result against Stevenage Borough tomorrow afternoon.

COVERAGE

www.kentishfootball.co.uk will be providing LIVE UPDATES from Stonebridge Road.

BBC Radio Kent will be providing LIVE COVERAGE on 96.7fm and 104.6fm and on www.bbc.co.uk/kent
Visit Ebbsfleet United’s website: www.ebbsfleetunited.co.uk

Ebbsfleet United v Stevenage Borough
FA Carlsberg Trophy Semi-Final Second Leg
Saturday 21^st March 2009
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Stonebridge Road, Northfleet, Kent DA11 9GN