Herne Bay boss Simon Halsey will be clued up ahead of FA Cup tie against Alresford

Monday 09th August 2010

HERNE BAY boss Simon Halsey insists his side will bounce back for their FA Cup tie away to debutants Alresford Town on Saturday, writes Stephen McCartney.

Herne Bay compete in one of 201 Extra Preliminary Round ties on Saturday - just 91 days since Chelsea lifted the Cup after edging Portsmouth 1-0 with Didier Drogba’s free-kick in last season’s Wembley Final.

Herne Bay are one of 759 teams that have had their entries accepted and get the 130th FA Cup season underway against a side that enter for the very first time.

Alresford, which is situated on the A31 between Winchester and Alton, got their Sydenhams Wessex Premier League campaign off to a good start, winning 3-0 at Romsey Town at the weekend.

But Herne Bay were left stunned as two-goals from 20-year-old striker Marcus Cassius - who is on loan from Blue Square Bet South side Bromley - sealed a 2-1 win for Erith & Belvedere at Winch’s Field, as a late Stuart King left-footed free-kick proved fruitless.

With such a long distance to travel for a scouting mission, Halsey will call upon a favour to get clued up on the Hampshire outfit.

“I tried to have a look to see if they had a pre-season friendly or a game in midweek this week for me to have a look at, so I’ve got a number of someone whose down that way so I’m waiting for him to ring me back and give me some information on them,” Halsey told www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

“Until I hear from him, I can’t talk too much about them, but we’ll be going down there to win the game - as we tried against Erith & Belvedere - and if we alleviate the sloppy mistakes out of us we won’t be far off it.”

With The Football Association not yet announced details of their prize money pool for the season ahead - any run in this competition will bring much needed financial benefits, especially as sponsors E.ON have extended their sponsorship deal to another year.

Alex Horne, General Secretary of The FA, said: “E.ON have been a great partner for The FA Cup and we are delighted they are extending the relationship a further year. This arrangement fits neatly with our overall sponsorship plans.”

Halsey added: “FA Cup and Vase would be great so we really want a run in everything, Kent League, Cups and everything we go into, I want to win.”

But Halsey wants his side to prove that their opening day defeat was a blip.

“Saturday was not the greatest of starts, but I say it’s a marathon and not a sprint,” said Halsey, whose side have now gone seven games without a win, including pre-season friendlies.

“Erith & Belvedere were elated, good luck to them, I suppose you could call it a scalp, but as I say there’s a long way to go. Perhaps the celebrations were a little bit premature.”

Visit Herne Bay’s website: www.hernebayfc.net

Arlesford Town v Herne Bay

FA Cup (Sponsored by E.ON) Extra Preliminary Round

Saturday 14th August 2010

Kick Off 3:00pm

At Alresbury Park, The Avenue, Alresford, Hampshire SO24 9EP