Deres make their mark with Cassius season long loan deal

Friday 16th July 2010

ERITH & BELVEDERE boss Micky Collins has unveiled the signing of Marcus Cassius on a season long loan deal from Blue Square Bet South side Bromley, writes Stephen McCartney.

Nippy striker Cassius, 20, moved to Bromley from Erith Town for an undisclosed transfer fee, after scoring 45 goals in the Kent League, where he bagged the Golden Boot.

His time at Hayes Lane has been spent mostly on the substitute’s bench though and last season he spent a month on loan at Ryman Premier League side Cray Wanderers.

He made just four starts for Bromley last season and came off the bench a remarkable 24 times but could only muster a couple of goals in that time.

Collins, who worked with Cassius during his Golden Boot period at Erith Town, is absolutely delighted to have secured the services of the young striker.

“We have signed Marcus on a loan deal for the whole season and he remains on contract with Bromley, but we are delighted to have him playing for us for the season,” Collins told www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

“He played for Tommo (Mark Tompkins) and I at Erith Town, where he signed him on contract terms and then he went to Bromley for an undisclosed fee so I know him very well and that he had a big part in his decision to drop down to our level.

“He is an exciting prospect and will feature against Maidstone United tomorrow.

“He trained with us last night and it was great to be back working with him again.”

Collins’ first game in charge of the Deres is a pre-season friendly against Ryman Premier League side Maidstone United, who visit Park View Road tomorrow.

Stones boss, Peter Nott, has already confirmed that he will change his entire team at the interval, and Collins is expected field around 18 players for the warm-up game.

He said: “I am really pleased with the six training sessions we’ve had so far. It has been hard at times but every player has given 100%.

“We are still looking at trialists and this will be reflected in our line-up.

“We know it will be a tough test for our new squad, Maidstone are a big club with quality players and a good management team.

“Everyone at the club is eagerly anticipating the visit of Maidstone and hopefully we will do ourselves justice on the pitch.

“We have signed a few players already and the squad is taking shape nicely. We still have players on holiday and a couple who go away after tomorrow’s game, so our final squad will not be finalised for a week or so.”

Maidstone United, meanwhile, have today confirmed the signings of Marc Cumberbatch and Jake Hobbs, who have arrived from Tonbridge Angels and Welling United respectively.

Visit Erith & Belvedere’s website: www.erithandbelvederefc.co.uk

Visit Maidstone United’s website: www.maidstoneunited.co.uk

Erith & Belvedere v Maidstone United

Pre-Season Friendly

Saturday 17th July 2010

Kick Off 3:00pm

At Park View Road, Welling, Kent DA16 1SY