Hopefully we can get our season back on track and turn Maidstone over, says Scott Porter

HYTHE TOWN boss Scott Porter says he demands a reaction from his side when they lock horns with title chasing Maidstone United on Saturday.



Hythe went down to a 3-2 defeat away to Faversham Town on New Years’ Day, a result that leaves them in third-place in the Ryman League Division One South table, with 37 points from 21 games.

Porter’s side recorded a morale-boosting 2-1 home win over local rivals Folkestone Invicta on Boxing Day – to extract sweet revenge for their 8-0 reverse exactly a year earlier.

But they found themselves 2-0 down at the break against Ray Turner’s Faversham. Aaron Lacy scored directly from a corner to score against his former club, before Dave Botterill steered home a rebound after goalkeeper Dean Ruddy had initially blocked his penalty.

But Porter’s inspirational team-talk got his side back into the game when former Beckenham Town winger Jake Hobbs scored his first goal for the club with a sublime free-kick, before skipper Dave Cook scored his nineteenth-goal of the season to bring Hythe Town level.

But a sublime lob from Darren Marsden gave Faversham Town the points and Porter wants to bounce back against The Stones.

Jay Saunders’ side have lost top spot to Gavin Rose’s Dulwich Hamlet, who are a couple of points clear of Maidstone United, who have a couple of games in hand.

“It’s a big week for us,” said Porter.

“We’ve fallen at the first hurdle so we need a reaction from the boys. 

“It will be a big day for us, a big crowd and hopefully we can get our season back on track and get a result against them.

“Faversham was a big game. It was a local derby. We haven’t been getting our way with the derbies at the minute. We’ve just said that to the boys so hopefully we can get our season back on track and turn Maidstone over.

“But it’s going to be tough. They’re all tough games. Maidstone are up there, they’re there to be shot at and we want to be where they are so hopefully we can put in a performance.”

Porter completed his touchline ban at Faversham on New Years’ Day and knows he must curb his passion in the dug-out to avoid another fine.

Reflecting on his time on the sidelines, Porter said: “It’s the frustrating thing. You can’t do anything. You can’t scream, you can’t shout and you can’t put your feelings across and it is frustrating.

“I do everything else apart from scream and shout. You can use your mobile and contact your assistant.

“I’m a passionate person. I like to be on the sidelines putting my points across and I couldn’t do that.

“It’ll be good to be back on the bench on Saturday.”

Porter admitted where it goes wrong for him, by saying, “It’s just the language really. I can scream and shout as much as you want, it’s just what comes out of my mouth and I’ve got to stop it because it’s costing me a lot of money and I don’t want to be sitting in the stands again!”

Maidstone United arrive at Reachfields Stadium on the back of a 2-1 victory over former landlords Sittingbourne.

The New Years’ Day clash at The Gallagher Stadium attracted a record crowd of 2,291 and Hythe Town officials are expecting a crowd of at least 700 on Saturday.

Saunders knows what to expect on Saturday and said: “They’re a good side – they were last year – and in all fairness they’re going to work very hard and give you no time!

“They’ve got some good players, the likes of Nick Barnes; I’ve played with Craig Cloke and they will cause us problems.

“What’s important for us is that we concentrate on us. We’re starting to get one or two back from injury.  I had some tough decisions to make (against Sittingbourne) and we’ve still got some to come back. We’ve still got Alex Flisher, who could have been involved, but we want to be certain.

“We’ll go to Hythe on the back of hopefully getting some confidence (with the win over Sittingbourne) hoping that we can get the win as we got turned over down there last year, which was fully deserved.

“Hopefully we’ll go down there this year a bit stronger and a bit wiser.”

Visit Hythe Town’s website: www.hythetownfc.co.uk

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

Hythe Town  v  Maidstone United
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 5^th January 2013
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Reachfields Stadium, off Fort Road, Hythe, Kent CT21 6JS