I had some great days and good memories during myy eight years' at Arsenal, reflects Martin Hayes

DOVER ATHLETIC boss Martin Hayes says supporters are in for a treat when Premier League giants Arsenal visit Crabble on Wednesday night , writes Stephen McCartney.

 

Hayes, 45, began his illustrious playing career with the Gunners, making 132 appearances, scoring 34 goals before he was sold to Celtic for £650,000 in September 1990.

And tomorrow night he pitts his Blue Square Bet South players against the talented Premier League giants.

“I think it’s a nice game for the club,” said Hayes.  “You generally try to have these a bit earlier in pre-season but you can’t always pick and choose the dates.

“I’m not aware how long it’s been since Arsenal have brought a side down, but I think it’s good for the people to see the fabulous players that they’ve got.”

Hayes, who is preparing for his second season with the Kent club added, “I had some good times there.  I was lucky.  I joined them from school and I sort of grew up there really and had eight years of learning and grooming and had some good times.  We had some great days and good memories. It seems a lifetime ago now, but the club has moved on in such a big way since. 

“I’m sure they’ve had requests to play all year round and it’s nice for me to have a chance to come up against them.

“We’ll certainly learn a few things tomorrow night and hopefully the boys’ enjoy the experience and the fans enjoy a good game because they play total football and we’ll play as much as we can or when they allow us too.

“Hopefully there will be plenty of goals and a good night for everyone – and the people of Dover and that side of Kent can see these good young players come and play.”

Dover Athletic romped to a 12-1 home victory over Belgium outfit VG Oostende on Saturday.  Their visitors took the lead, but Donovan Simmonds scored four, summer signing, Billy Bricknell grabbed a hat-trick, Luke I’Anson scored two, with other goals coming from Matt Johnson, George Purcell and Harry Baker.

“It’s really strange as you don’t really know what to expect from these sides that come over,” admitted Hayes.

“The scoreline makes them look like a Sunday team, it really wasn’t like that at all.  For the first 25 minutes of the game they probably caused us as many problems as anyone else has all pre-season. They were knocking it around, they scored a very good goal, passing and moving and they could have scored a couple more.”

“We were having a few issues, we got ourselves back in it and got our noses in front and scored a couple more and their heads seemed to drop.  They only had fourteen players and they had three of their main ones not with them. 

“The second half, on a warm day, they didn’t have much of a fight.  Our fitness levels were higher as their season doesn’t start until September.  It was pretty much one way traffic but you still have to score 12 goals against these teams.

“It probably wasn’t an ideal game but it ticks the boxes of shutting down and working.  It wasn’t terrible.  The fans there enjoyed it, warm day.  I’m not expecting that kind of scoreline, for us to win by that many, tomorrow night!”

When asked what level of Belgium football their visitors played at, Hayes replied, “When I spoke to them beforehand to try and have an idea myself, they were two league’s below the Belgium Fourth Division, which is pretty much where we’re at.  The Belgium Fourth Division isn’t as strong as the English Fourth Division, probably.

“Seeing the way they played in the first half and hour, if we played them in a month’s time, if they had all their players’ fitter, I would certainly put them as a good Ryman Premier side. 

“I think the scoreline was a bit harsh on them.”

Hayes added:  “We scored seven in the second half.  If our finishing was better it could have been a lot more, but I would put them at that kind of level.  They weren’t that bad.  They certainly weren’t a Sunday outfit, they were better than a Ryman South outfit.

“They had a bad day.  I don’t know if they went out Friday night – they might have had a couple of beers. When you’re on tour it’s a bit different than travelling from home isn’t it?

“To be fair, they had a couple of good players.  They had a good left winger who caused us all kinds of problems in the first half.  They certainly weren’t that bad.  We did a lot of good things and they done a lot of bad things.

“It ticks the boxes, it wasn’t the ideal game you would have wanted but it ticks another box, but it’s certainly going to be a lot different tomorrow as we could be on the receiving and doing a lot of running around.

“It’s a strange one tomorrow night, but it’s a good one for everyone to enjoy, hopefully we get a big crowd and puts a little bit in the bank for the season.”

Visit Dover Athletic’s website: www.doverathletic.com

Dover Athletic v  Arsenal
Pre-Season Friendly
Wednesday 3^rd August 2011
Kick Off 7:45pm
At Crabble, Lewisham Road, River, Dover, Kent CT17 0JB