We worked so hard last year to get into this league but we don’t want to let ourselves down now, says Bearsted head coach Mike Ward

BEARSTED head coach Mike Ward says his side should have more than three points from their opening seven games in the Southern Counties East Football League.

Last season’s Kent Invicta League champions are finding out that mistakes are punished in the higher level of football, as was the case on Saturday when Pagham knocked them out of The FA Vase at the first attempt.

Manager Kevin Stevens decided to hand right-back Isaac Walters his debut but he put in a poor performance for the 25 minutes he was on the pitch, by which time Pagham had scored the winning goal through Scott Murfin’s strike.

Bearsted were unlucky too, with Sam Flisher and Andy Irvine hitting the post and although they dominated the second half, they couldn’t find the equaliser that their attacking play deserved.

Attention now turns to playing the division’s top two sides, a trip to much-fancied side Ashford United on Tuesday, before Stevens’ takes his side to surprise leaders AFC Croydon Athletic on Saturday.

“Looking forward to going down there, that’s why we got promoted, we want these challenges in this league,” Ward said of their trip to Ashford to face Danny Lye’s side.

“We’ll re-group, the boys are good spirits, they were upset on the pitch in our huddle but they’re in good spirits so we’ll have our de-brief in the next couple of days and hopefully go to Ashford with a bit of confidence and try to get something out of the game there.”

Ward admits his side are finding it tougher in their new surroundings.

“Yes, definitely,” he said.

“There’s a lot in terms of physicality and the fitness of players, the way teams move the ball quickly, where that will be from back-to-front or side-to-side, but I think the biggest thing that has been a shock for these boys and we spoke about it all pre-season, hence why we played the calibre of teams we played, because last year and no disrespect to the teams we played bar four or five teams, a lot of teams we played last year sat back and let us have the ball, let us play and we’d try to break them down. Apart from one or two that went at us and we’re challenging in the top, maybe five or six, where as this one they are the boys that want to express and attack and play.

“We have to be more solid in our defensive half and then get into their half as quickly as possible and show quality because teams will open up against us.”

AFC Croydon Athletic are three points clear of Ashford United on 18 points from seven games and Keith Rayner’s side are the ones setting the pace at the top of the table, while Bearsted have Tunbridge Wells and Erith Town below them in the league table.

“When the fixtures came out we knew September was going to be tough,” said Ward.

“Ashford and AFC Croydon Athletic are flying.  Ashford are favourites, probably in my eyes to go on and do really well this year.

“We’ll go there and put a team out to work hard and get a result, whether that’s lose, win or draw, but we’ll give it everything. That’s what we do and anyone who was watching us every game knows we’ve given everything both on the side and on the pitch.

“Results haven’t been good enough in the league.  We worked so hard last year to get into this league but we don’t want to let ourselves down now.”

Visit Bearsted’s website:  www.bearstedfc.co.uk

Ashford United  v  Bearsted
Southern Counties East Football League
Tuesday 13^th September 2016
Kick Off 7:45pm
At Homelands Stadium, Ashford Road, Kingsnorth, Ashford, Kent TN26 1NJ