Cugley tells fans: Thanks for sticking by us!

Wednesday 23rd December 2009

FOLKESTONE INVICTA are looking forward to a much-welcomed Boxing Day cash bonanza when local rivals Ashford Town visit Cheriton Road, writes Stephen McCartney.

Despite the rest of Kent coming to a standstill, Cugley, who was speaking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk this lunchtime, has some good news ahead of the top-versus-bottom Ryman League Division One South clash on Saturday.

“We should be alright,” he said. “To be fair our pitch is alright. It’s clear of everything at the moment so we’re very confident that it will go on. We’re 100% it will play.

Cugley hopes that the visit of Ashford will attract their largest crowd off the season and give the club a financial boost going into the new year.

He said: “Dover are away as well so there’s not much on locally. I tell people to get down there. I think both sides will give it a go. It should be quite entertaining.”

Folkestone Invicta are presently sitting proudly at the top of the table after 20 games and are four points clear of Worthing, with a game in hand.

Ashford Town, meanwhile, are rooted to the foot of the table with 11 points from 17 games and have now stretched their winless run to ten games and both sides will be eager to claim important bragging rights - and more importantly the points.

“I don’t quite know why their bottom, not with the players that they’ve got,” said Cugley. I think they’ve got five or six who I think are very good players.

“We have to make sure it’s not a shock because it’s how far we’ve come on. I thought we were quite close together (in football and financial terms) to be honest.

“They’re a bit like us,” Cugley added. “They’ve got a few experienced players and they’ve got a few youngsters - same as us really.

“I’ve said before, playing those lads for 20-30 games last year, made a big difference.”

Both camps will not need to motivate themselves for the big game.

“I think our lads, to be fair, seem to be very good at that anyway, getting themselves up for the game,” added Cugley.

Cugley, who is still highly regarded amongst the Ashford Town faithful, is delighted to be Christmas number one.

“I’m a bit surprised, but delighted,” he said. “All credit to the players for how hard they’ve worked. I’ve said before, with a tiny squad as well, we’ve been lucky really with injuries. Our disciplinary record is absolutely brilliant. We’ve got nobody near suspensions or whatever. Discipline on and off the pitch has been tremendous.

“You can take a bit of credit but it’s the players themselves that do it. It isn’t easy when you set them out and you try and do things right, but once they get out there they can be intimidated and when you’re near the top you’ve got people who want to take you off that top spot so they’ve responded to any sort of challenges so far that they’ve been given.”

Well-respected Cugley is still playing mind-games, by saying, “As I’ve said before, I don’t think we are capable of winning the league for various reasons, but while we’re top we’ll enjoy it and make it hard for other teams to knock us off.”

With a crowd of over 500 expected on Saturday, Cugley gave this message to the Cheriton Road faithful.

“Thanks for sticking by us,” he said. “It’s been a difficult season, not so much on it but off it. Hopefully they (the board) can get (our financial problems) resolved over the next few months. It’s dragged on for a year now.

“The fans have stood by us, we’ve got the highest gates in the league. We’ve got to be pleased with that as well.”

Visit Folkestone Invicta’s website: www.folkestoneinvicta.co.uk

Visit Ashford Town’s website: www.ashfordtownfc.co.uk

Folkestone Invicta v Ashford Town

Ryman League Division One South

Boxing Day, Saturday 26th December 2009

Kick Off 3:00pm

At Cheriton Road, Folkestone, Kent CT19 5JU