Kentish Football 
I don't want fans to go home with the hump, says Cray boss Ian Jenkins
Sunday 29th August 2010
CRAY WANDERERS boss Ian Jenkins says he wants to kick-start his side’s season by claiming their first points of the season at Hastings United on Bank Holiday Monday, writes Stephen McCartney.
The Wands have suffered a frustrating time since they kicked off their second Ryman Premier League campaign with a 1-0 defeat at Hornchurch on 21 August.
They were then forced to play two home games within 48 hours of each other - against Carshalton Athletic and Tooting & Mitcham United - but their game against the Robbins was abandoned after 53 minutes due to a waterlogged pitch with the Wands leading 2-0 - before Tooting & Mitcham grabbed three headed goals last Friday to win 3-2.
It hasn’t been a great start for all of our Kent sides in the division as all five of them are sitting in the bottom six - with Cray Wanderers third from bottom with no points from two games - although performances in their one and a half games at Hayes Lane left Jenkins upbeat ahead of their trip to play Tony Dolby’s Hastings - a side that have claimed seven points from their first three games and lead the table with Kingstonian, Sutton United and promoted side Bury Town.
“I’m looking forward to it, it’s a nice time to go down to Hastings on a Monday afternoon,” Jenkins told www.kentishfootball.co.uk.
“Hopefully the weather will be nice and we’ll go down and enjoy the game, but we want to go down there and try and win the game if we can. If we get something there all well and good. It probably won’t be brilliant but we want to win it. It’s bounce-back time.”
But Jenkins wants his players to cut out the mistakes that they’ve made this season and four headed goals conceded is alarming.
“Most teams are quite strong, it’s stronger than the league below,” he said. “It’s all about taking chances and not making mistakes. Like any level, you tend to make a mistake, the higher level you go, and you get punished and that’s what happened (against Tooting & Mitcham), where our chances haven’t gone in.”
Jenkins guided the club to 15th place in their first season at this level last season and he is seeking improvement this time around.
He has made numerous changes to his squad, with only Aaron Day, Mark Willy, Tyrone Sterling and Mark Hammond familiar faces from past squads.
“This time last year we were sitting on one point and we didn’t pick up another point for another three or four games so if we get a win Monday and the following Saturday we’re sitting on six and you never know where it takes you,” Jenkins said.
“If we finish higher than we finished last year it’s a bonus. Staying in the league is what it’s all about - we’re looking to finish much higher with the squad I’ve got. I’ll be surprised if we’re not in the top nine, top ten this season.”
Jenkins, who joined his home-town club as a player in 1999 and took over as then player-manager six years later, wants his side’s good performance to turn into three points, when Harrow Borough visit Hayes Lane next Saturday.
Jenkins said on Friday night that he was going to watch Harrow’s game at Tonbridge Angels - their 2-1 win at Longmead Stadaium leaves Tommy Warrilow’s side rooted to the foot of the table after three games.
“We’ve got to watch more teams in this league, we’ve learnt that over the last few years,” added Jenkins.
“You’ve got to watch teams and find our a bit about them.
“We want to get wins and in front of our own crowd because you don’t want the home crowd going home with the hump.
“If their football people they can see we’re trying to play the game. We’ve been unlucky in both of our (home) games this season so I want to entertain, that’s what I want to do.”
Visit Cray Wanderers’ website: www.craywands.co.uk
Hastings United v Cray Wanderers
Ryman Premier League
Bank Holiday Monday, 30th August 2010
Kick Off 3:00pm
At The Pilot Field, Elphinstone Road, Hastings, East Sussex TN34 2AX
Red Dragon I.T. Ltd