Kentish Football 
I'm getting no pressure from the club, says McMahon
Sunday 25th July 2010
THAMESMEAD TOWN manager Keith McMahon says he is the only person at the club applying pressure to deliver a successful season, writes Stephen McCartney.
Mead kicked off their pre-season campaign with an impressive 2-1 home win over Ryman League Division One South side Whitstable Town, courtesy of a brace from summer signing Alex Tiesse, who also missed a penalty.
McMahon was without the likes of Lewis Tozer, Scott Mulholland, Lea Dawson, Danny Moore, Peter Smith and summer signing Bradley Spice against the Oystermen, so a couple of youngsters stood up to the plate.
Moore’s place at left-back was taken by Ben Wilson, and another 16-year-old slotted in at the heart of defence to replace Tozer, Alfie Munday.
“Young Alife Munday at the back is only 16, had his first game, done really, really well,” praised McMahon, when speaking to www.kentishfootball.co.uk.
“Ben Wilson, as well, on the left, both 16, both came through the youth ranks, done well in training and with a few bodies missing, deserved a run out and they done themselves no harm today.
“They fitted in well, I do like the way we play and we passed the ball really, really well and they filled the holes.”
With kids coming through the ranks at Bayliss Avenue, McMahon will have a selection headache for their second friendly - at home to Ryman League Division One South side Dulwich Hamlet - on Tuesday night.
“We’ve got 9 friendlies to go, a hell of a lot of players to look at. There were 15 training as well (on Saturday) as well as the six that we had missing,” said McMahon.
“We’ll line up with a strong side and everyone will get a chance and we’ll keep drilling in the way we want to play this year.
“We will change the way we play when pitches change, but we’ve got some tough games.
“Dulwich will, be another tough one, Corinthian (who play us on Thursday) are a Kent League side, who will let us have a bit more of the ball and then we’ve got Maidstone on Saturday, who I’m sure we’ll give a game to.”
The £4m redevelopment of Bayliss Avenue is taking shape, and McMahon gave an update of progress yesterday.
“The 3G will be ready by mid-September and the whole ground completion date will be 17 December,” he revealed.
“This week the builders have pulled out all the stops to get it fit. We had massive holes in the car park, we had no turnstiles, they were taken down. We have no pathway and they’ve worked so hard.
“The groundsman, Keith and myself, you see the state of the pitch, you can see how great that is. Things are really looking really positive.
“We spoke to a couple of lads this week about coming here, why would you want to choose another club that’s similar to ours, over ours with what’s going on at the moment?”
With new facilities comes expectation, but McMahon insisted yesterday that the club hasn’t put any pressure on him to deliver a glorious season in Ryman League Division One North this season.
“The only pressure is on myself,” he said. “I set myself goals on trying to win the league every year, I’ve got no pressure from the committee. They know what job I do and they back me 120%.
“I don’t think there’s another club and another manager that work the way we do.
“I’ve got their full backing. There will be no pressure. If we finish mid-table in the Ryman League every year and we’ve kept Ryman League status, they’ll be happy.
“We don’t pay mega money, we’re a small budget side and we’re well punching above our weight as we always say, but we’re building a very strong squad.
“This is the strongest squad we’ve had since I’ve been here and every year we’ve done that. We’ve progressed every year.
“There’s a lot of great sides in our league this year and it’s going to be a really strong league and I think we’re going to compete.”
Visit Thamesmead Town’s website: www.thamesmeadtownfc.co.uk
Thamesmead Town v Dulwich Hamlet
Pre-Season Friendly
Tuesday 27th July 2010
Kick Off 7:45pm
At Bayliss Avenue, Thamesmead, London SE28 8NJ
Red Dragon I.T. Ltd