If we play to our best we've got a chance of staying up, says Thamesmead Town boss Keith McMahon

THAMESMEAD TOWN manager Keith McMahon says at least fourteen more points will keep the club in the Ryman Premier League.

The Mead pulled off a shock 4-1 win over second-placed Maidstone United at Bayliss Avenue on Tuesday night to climb out of the relegation zone for the first time in a long time.

McMahon’s men leapfrogged over East Thurrock United and Wingate & Finchley -  with 26 points from 29 games - and they travel to Wingate & Finchley on Saturday.

The north London side are one point behind The Mead, but do have four games in hand, so Saturday’s game at Summers Lane will be classed as a six-pointer.

“Every game’s crucial,” said McMahon. 

“When we played Grays on Saturday, I was speaking to one of their committee and he went to me “it’s a massive game for you, not as big a game for us,”

“But every game is massive for us in this league because we’re a very small club and people are really surprised that we got in this league, so every game against anybody is a massive game for us and that will be the same for the last seventeen games.

“If we lose it’s still not all over. If we win or get a draw it keeps us going. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing and show the same heart and commitment that we’ve just done and I think we’ll be ok.  I said that a while ago and I still believe it now where no-one gave us a chance whatsoever.”

When asked how many points the club need to give it another crack at this level, McMahon replied: “Around the 40 mark we’ll be safe.  I’m not sure if that’s the case. We need fourteen more but we’ve just got to take every three points as they come or every point as they come.

“There’s no stopping East Thurrock or Wingate or anyone putting a run together and getting out of it. 

“We’re going through a good spell at the moment and we just need to keep going.  We just have to worry about ourselves but as you saw on Tuesday night we’ve got the fight and determination and we have got a bit of quality to get us there as well.

“Hopefully we can do that and people take us a little bit lightly and we can sneak under and keep nicking results.”

McMahon insists his side will give it a fair crack to avoid finishing in the bottom four in their inaugural campaign at this level.

“We never fear anyone. If we play to our best we’ve got a chance and that’s all we’re going to do,” he said.

“We’re just going to battle, battle and battle and if we come up short and we gave it a go, we’ve come up short.  If we do really put it in for all those games left, it’s a bit daunting when you listen to the names (we’re playing against) because of the size of the clubs and people expect you to lose.

“We’re this club that has a knack of upsetting and being underdogs and winning.

“People said we’ll be lucky to get ten points when we took some heavy defeats at the beginning of the season.”

The Mead attracted their largest ever crowd as a Ryman League club when 305 flocked through the turnstiles against Maidstone United. Although The Stones brought a high number of fans to Bayliss Avenue, there were also local faces watching their local team pull off a shock win.

Bayliss Avenue now boasts some excellent facilities with a 4g pitch next door to the main stadium, which is hired by local clubs, including Bexley Borough and Seven Acre & Sidcup.

Reflecting on their shock win over Maidstone United, McMahon said: “I’m pleased for the whole development. I know Trust Thamesmead were here. Sporting Club Thamesmead saw a nice big gate.  We’re doing our best to get more people through the gate. That seems to be slightly paying off now.  Victories like this all help, publicity will help and if we keep doing that we’ll be fine.”

The Mead are next at home when third-from-bottom Enfield Town visit Bayliss Avenue on Saturday, 1 February (3:00pm kick-off).

Visit Thamesmead Town’s website: www.thamesmeadtownfc.com

Wingate & Finchley v Thamesmead Town
Ryman Premier League
Saturday 25^th January 2014
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Harry Abrahams Stadium, Summers Lane, Finchley, London N12 0PD