Kentish Football 
Chats will spoil someone's party - O'Brien pledges
Tuesday 30th March 2010
Chatham Town boss Alex O’Brien has urged his players to rise to the challenges that their last five games of the season will set his team. With three promotion chasers and two sides deep in trouble still to play, the Chatham boss, nearing the end of his first season at Maidstone Road, has called on his players to raise their games to potentially spoil a party or two between now and April 24th, writes Mike Green
Although held at home last Tuesday by second bottom Eastbourne Town, O’Brien was in a reflective mood when he spoke to kentishfootball.co.uk, especially as the manager had just seen his defence keep their first clean sheet of 2010. He said, “I’m happy with a clean sheet finally, but we had eleven good chances and failed to hit the net. If that had been a game when we needed three points at either end of the table, it would have been very very hard to take. We played well, we passed the ball well, we worked hard, but we just lacked in front of goal. We’re either leaking silly goals or not scoring!”It was a side that showed a number of changes following last Saturday defeat to Horsham, and the clubs recent poor run. “After the disastrous run we’ve been on we needed some experience at the back and that’s exactly what we got from Lew (Watts) – I’m sure he ached like heck on Wednesday and doesn’t want to do it again in a hurry but he made everyone in the back four and the goalkeeper more confident just with his talking.” O’Brien said, before turning his attention to a strike who he has finally signed after months of trying. “Bobby Dixey is a player from Tonbridge we’ve had our eye on for some time – he’s been prominent in their reserves scored a lot of goal,” the Chats boss said. “He’s given us a fresh fell up front in his first game at this level – there’s good signs. Having Jordan (Kiffin) and Rob (Denness) wide giving us outlets wide was great and it was certainly us going at them but we just couldn’t get the first goal – if we’d have got one we’d have got five or six but that sums up our season!”
As his players near the end of a season that promised a lot but has delivered nothing for the Medway club, the manager conceded, “Players are tired but if were sitting second they wouldn’t be tired; if we were sitting second they’d be confident and they’d be buzzing – winning is a massive confidence in football and if we were on a winning run. But for the last coupe of months we’ve been down on our luck a little bit and that effected us all over the pitch.”
This weekend, bottom side Walton Casuals are the visitors to the Maidstone Road Sports ground, and O’Brien is prepared for another scrap. “It’ll be exactly the same at the weekend as Walton are fighting for points – any sort of points and it’ll be up to us to match their work rate and be better on the ball and hopefully take a few chances. We’ve got games left now where we’re either playing sides at the bottom scrapping fro points or those looking to go up. We’ve got a lot to play for still and we can still do some damage at both ends of the table. Its whether we’re up for upsetting parties at both ends – it is a strange but nice position to be in really if we cant be involved ourselves. We’ve not had the greatest of seasons – it not what we wanted or wanted to achieve but we’re still very much being looked at to spring that surprise result that upsets someone, and it might be that we stop side going up or getting a play off place or indeed we send a team down. In my eyes these last five games are going to be very competitive indeed – its my job now to make sure that my players see it like that and react accordingly come Saturday.”
The manager faces more selection problems with Dean Ruddy, Richard Avery and Matt Rowe are all still out injured whilst Ray Powell is suspended after his red card against Fleet Town a fortnight ago!
Chatham Town v Walton Casuals
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 3rd April 2010
Kick Off 3:00pm
Red Dragon I.T. Ltd