Dartford have high hopes for their PASE side - EXCLUSIVE

DARTFORD goalkeeping coach John Macrae, 56, paid tribute to the club’s management team for guiding the Princes Park outfit to the Ryman League Division One North title this season, writes Stephen McCartney.

Macrae is impressed with the professionalism that boss Tony Burman and coaches Steve Moseley and Paul Sawyer showed when going head-to-head with challengers AFC Sudbury for the title.

“We stumbled over the line at the end didn’t we, but we stumbled a little bit (better) than Sudbury,” Macrae said EXCLUSIVELY to www.kentishfootball.co.uk tonight.

“Easter done it for us, we had those two big games (against) Ware and Canvey Island and Sudbury’s games were cancelled.

“The players stepped up to the plate and produced nitty gritty results and that’s what done it.

“We got a street ahead and they couldn’t handle the pressure.”

The highly-rated goalkeeping coach was impressed with Burman throughout the club’s title winning campaign.

He said: “We’ve got to realise a club like Dartford we’ve got such an experienced manager in Tony Burman, Steve Moseley and Skip (Paul Sawyer) who have got a wealth of experience in their own rights.

“We’re not looking at anything apart from forward with people like that involved with the management of the team.

“Some managers will say things “this is what we’re going to do” but Tony and the team don’t say that. We just go out there and they work themselves for the team, no predictions.

“We just go out and do it. We’re not a club to boost ourselves. We just do our best. We won’t get anything else than 100% as a management team.

Big things are expected from the Darts during their Ryman Premier League campaign, which kick’s off on 16^th August.

“We’ve got a hard season coming up but with the management team of Tony Burman, Steve Moseley and Skip Sawyer we have the people that will give 100% for the club and for the town of Dartford,” said Macrae.

“It won’t be for the want of trying that we won’t fulfil our potential.

“We can only do what we do, but all I can guarantee is the managers and players we’ll have in place we’ll give it our best shot and it won’t be for the lack of trying.”

With goalkeeper Tony Kessell impressing between the sticks, another Darts goalkeeper Darren Ibrahim has the ability to make the grade, according to Macrae.

“Tony won the managers’ player-of-the-year (award) and the under 18 keeper, who I have a lot of hope for, he got his managers’ player-of-the-year and he’s an outstanding talent for a sixteen-year-old.

“I’m really pleased for the boys, they’ve worked hard. You only get out of it what you put in and these boys have put in a lot of work.”

Macrae, who also coaches the club’s PASE side, who finished their inaugural second-from-bottom, expects more next season.

“It was our first season with the PASE, it was a steep learning curve for the management team and the players,” he explained.

“Next season we’ll march on because we were the youngest team playing second year academy (sides).

“Next season will be second year and we’ve got a lot new talent from outside the club, who go to the college.

“Jamie Coyle (a defender for the first team) is involved college side and Simon Copley, he’s an ex-player who has his own coaching business and he takes the coaching and manages the side on the park and does the training.

“I work with the PASE team and the under 18s and hopefully next year we’ll have a goalkeeper academy down at the club so hopefully I’ll have a couple of qualified coaches down there, Lee Heywood (ex Greenwich Borough) and Craig Clark and one other.”

Visit Dartford's websites:  www.dartfordfc.co.uk & www.dartfordfootballclub.co.uk