We're going for three points at Beckenham and the Last 16 in the FA Vase, says Chatham Town goalkeeper Dan Ellis

CHATHAM TOWN goalkeeper Dan Ellis says he was buzzing after his side beat Sheppey United last weekend to keep their title hopes alive.

 

Scott Lindsey’s side won 3-2 at Maidstone Road last Saturday to remain in fourth-place in the Sea Pioneer Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division table.

Beckenham Town are top of the tree with 46 points from 19 games and they are followed by Corinthian, who have collected 40 points from 20 games. Sheppey United slip down to third-place with 39 points from 19 games, while Chatham Town are fourth with 37 points in the bag from their 20 league outings.

“Absolutely buzzing! The boys have worked hard over the last couple of weeks,” said Ellis, 29.

“A couple of games were postponed and Scott Lindsey has been absolutely brilliant with us and I think we owed that to him after the last result (losing 2-0 at home to Erith Town).

“I think it just shows what this club is trying to do. It’s a club that’s really, really trying to push on and it’s got the squad to do it now and I believe if we string a few results together we’ll be right up there.”

Lindsey has got Chatham’s players playing a nice brand of attractive football and they play out from the back, with three centre-halves and two wing-backs, which has got the goalkeeper adapting to it.

“Scott’s been at (League Two side) Forest Green Rovers and they were total football and I think with the 3G pitch we’ve got now we’re playing the football that we should be playing and we’ve got the players good enough to play it,” said Ellis.

“We made a couple of mistakes and we’ll learn from them and put them right at training but I think Scott just wants us to play football.  When we’re in possession, all the time we’re in possession, teams can’t hurt us.”

Ellis paid tribute to Tony Hine, his goalkeeper coach, for improving his game and has fought off competition for Jordan Carey to claim the number 20 jersey.

“Tony has been absolutely brilliant. I was a bit out of shape a couple of months ago, I weren’t in the team and I worked hard, he worked me hard and it’s paid off,” he said.

“Jordan’s been brilliant. The way it’s worked, don’t get me wrong I was a bit disheartened and there was talk of me going to get games for a month elsewhere else but I’m glad I’ve stuck by it.

“Scott’s been brilliant, Tony the goalkeeper coach has been brilliant. James Collins has given me some moments of advice this season and last season so he’s been brilliant as well.  I’m quite close with James.  I’m glad I stuck by it and got the number 1 shirt.  I wear the number 20 because the number 1 shirt doesn’t fit me!

"Jordan's been brilliant, a great goalie and he's the future. He's a goalkeeper for the future and he'll go and do really well."

The game against Sheppey United attracted a season highest attendance of 927 to Maidstone Road and both sets of supporters’ were treated to a game of high quality.

“I think we’ve got to thank them.  I was talking to a couple of them just after the game and they’ve made the difference.  They turn up week-in-week-out home and away and they have made a difference,” said Ellis.

“They are buying in just as much as we are to play out. We might make mistakes, we’re not on thousands of pounds a week, we’re going to make mistakes and they accept it.  They keep turning up and they’ve been absolutely brilliant and all I can say is please keep coming, we really appreciate it.”

Chatham Town travel to Eden Park Avenue to take on the leaders Beckenham Town on Saturday and if the two FA Vase ties earlier on in the season are anything to go by, then this game will be another high-quality encounter.

Chatham Town then welcome Corinthian to Maidstone Road in the last 32 of The Buildbase FA Vase on Saturday 11 January (15:00).

“We’re going for three points and the last 16 in the Vase,” insisted Ellis.

“A club like this, going in the direction we’re going, we should be going for promotion, we should be going to win the Vase and I generally think with the bunch of boys that we’ve got together here, with the management team, we can go and do it!

“I want promotion, don’t get me wrong, Wembley is a great day out. It would be a great day out for the boys but this club deserves to be in the division above, minimum.

“The Vase would be brilliant but the league is the bread and butter and I think we should be pressing on in the league.

“We’ve played Beckenham twice in the Vase, very good games both games, two good footballing sides. We’ll give them a game and on our day we can beat anyone in this league, the league above, possibly the league above that, so we’ll give them a game.

"The pressure is all on Beckenham. We're behind Beckenham but we'll be going every week to win every game. We'll be right behind them, guaranteed.

Visit Chatham Town’s website: www.chathamtownfc.com

Beckenham Town  v  Chatham Town
Sea Pioneer Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division
Saturday 4 January 2020
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Eden Park Avenue, Beckenham, Kent BR3 3JL