We will continue to work hard and maintain levels of performance, says Erith & Belvedere joint-manager Marlon Patterson

ERITH & BELVEDERE joint-manager Marlon Patterson says he is relishing the underdog tag ahead of their FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round Replay against Tooting & Mitcham United on Wednesday night.
 

The Deres came back from Imperial Fields with a credible 1-1 draw to earn themselves a lucrative second bite of the cherry at Park View Road.

Ollie Bate gave Erith & Belvedere the lead before the Isthmian League South Central hosts levelled through Jake Rose’s spot-kick.

“Saturday’s game was always going to be a big test,” said Patterson, who was appointed joint-manager alongside Danny Murphy (not the former Fulham and Liverpool midfielder, but Welling United's Academy coach), in the close season.

“Tooting have been around a long time with a great history behind them.

“For large parts of the game I felt we more than held our own and limited them to chances as well as creating four or five chances of our own in the first half – it was very entertaining to watch.

“It took us a while to get out of the block and in the second half we had to soak up a lot of pressure, which I felt we dealt with really well.

“A moment of madness from one of our boys to give away a penalty but that’s to be expected – a little naïve.

“Some of our boys have never competed at this level so to get the result we did Danny Murphy and I are proud of every single one of them.

“We have players coming back that missed out due to niggles so hopefully we are in a stronger position come Wednesday evening.

“Danny and I felt Tooting were very athletic going forward and a good central midfielder who dominated the ball for them.”

Erith & Belvedere have kicked-off their Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division campaign by beating Hollands & Blair (3-1) and Tower Hamlets (5-1) and are in second-place in the table, sandwiched between Glebe and third-placed Sheppey United.

“We feel Wednesday is going to be another tough game that we are definitely looking forward to,” added the 38-year-old.

“Our season has started off positive, from a results perspective, it’s been excellent, but we are nowhere near where we want to be just now but we’ll keep working hard to get there.

“We have a good mixture of youth and the quality with the experience in Dave Martin, Dean McDonald and Louis Sprosen, they have made a massive difference and help the young lads get through games.

“We appreciate all the positive comments, feedback from other managers in the league and we will continue to work hard and maintain levels of performance.

“The Southern Counties East Football League Premier is a tough league with some very good players that can play in higher leagues, which makes the league more competitive.  There’s always an underdog, so who knows?”

Erith & Belvedere  v  Tooting & Mitcham United
The Emirates FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round Replay
Wednesday 11 August 2021
Kick Off 7:45pm
at Park View Road, Welling, Kent DA16 1SY