Everyone at the club has been over the moon with how we’ve taken such a difficult situation between the three of us and we’ve turned things around, says Hythe Town coach Will Graham

HYTHE TOWN first-team coach Will Graham says he is delighted with the way that things have turned around at Reachfields Stadium in recent weeks.

Hythe Town welcome neighbours Ashford United to Reachfields Stadium tomorrow.

Tommy Warrilow’s side are in third-place in the Isthmian League South East Division table, having collected 55 points from their 28 games, 10 points adrift of leaders Hastings United.

The Nuts & Bolts will come to Hythe Town on Tuesday 29 March in the Kent Senior Cup Quarter-Finals after beating Corinthian 5-4 on Tuesday night.

Hythe Town, meanwhile, go into the derby in fourteenth-place in the table, with 30 points from their 29 games.

James Rogers’ side are eight points clear of the relegation zone – occupied by Phoenix Sports and Whitstable Town – and Sevenoaks Town are in the points-per-game zone on 24 points.

“I watched Ashford on Tuesday against Corinthian, which was a bit of a basketball match to be fair and Corinthian caused them trouble and we’ll take that into the game and trying to see how we can cause them problems ourselves with what we’ve got,” said Graham.

“Somebody as experienced as Tommy Warrilow and some of the players they’ve got in their ranks, it’s always going to be a tough ask but we’re a growing changing room and a growing team and we’re getting very familiar with each other now.

“We’re looking at how we can cause them problems and we want to get something out of the game, so if you offer me a point now, I’ll take it!”

Graham added:  “We’re under no illusions, a couple of defeats in a row and teams below us winning a couple of games, then it can go down to the wire.

“We’re using that experience and togetherness and hopefully that will keep us where we need to be.

“Everyone at the club has been over the moon with how we’ve taken such a difficult situation between the three of us and we’ve turned things around, after what happened mid-season with the budget (decrease) and the club didn’t really know if it would finish the season at some points but full credit to James Rogers and Tom Wynter, we’ve turned it around.

“Next years’ plans will be based off how we do this year and where we are. The club have been great and very positive in helping us out and try to keep the squad lively and change the squad when we needed to and we’ve had to cut our cloth according to our needs.

“Ashford have got a couple of our ex-players in Jarred Trespaderne and Frannie Collin, people like Jay May has played for the club before, so there’s defiantly a few familiar faces and we’re hoping for a half-decent crowd tomorrow because it’s a local derby.

“We’ve got to make sure that we’re at the races tomorrow and our young players can go and express themselves and our older heads can manage the game and hopefully we can come away with something.”

The Cannons went down to a 3-0 defeat at Burgess Hill Town last Saturday.

“We played Burgess Hill several weeks ago at home and it was probably at the start of the transition just after the changes at the club and they were one of the best side’s we played at that present time and beat us 5-1,” recalled Graham.

“We went into the game with no illusions and it was going to be a tough ask to see what we could get out of the game.

“Both teams weren’t great on the day.  However, we went 1-0 down to a poor goal and had two great chances to get ourselves in front.

“Lewis Taylor has hit an overhead kick, which probably was the best goal I’ve seen in a long time at non-league level to put them 2-1 up and the third one was against-the-run-of-play.”

The Cannons have signed former Whitstable Town versatile defender Ollie Gray, 30, while Scott Doe has left the club to sign for a Barnstable Town side that are bottom of the Southern League Division One South table.

“I’ve worked with and played with Ollie personally so Ollie was someone I put forward for bringing in and experience us up a little bit more and bring a bit more quality in those areas,” said Graham.

“It’s always hard to lose someone as good as Scott Doe with the CV that he’s got, but it’s one of those things.

“When a team from completely miles out of the area comes in for someone, it’s an offer you can’t really turn down with a family and things like that. It was a ridiculous offer that Scott couldn’t turn down so we wouldn’t stand in his way.

“The old Carlisle United chairman is now their new chairman and they want to put some funds behind the team, so someone of Scott’s CV, it was defiantly an option for him to go there that he couldn’t turn down.”

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

Hythe Town  v  Ashford United
Isthmian League South East Division
Saturday 5 March 2022
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Reachfields Stadium, Fort Road, Hythe, Kent CT21 6JS