In hindsight, I'm disappointed not to have six points, says Eltham Palace boss Terry Naden

ELTHAM PALACE manager Terry Naden says his side have got nothing to lose when they travel to big-spending Ashford United on Saturday.



The Green Court Road outfit have picked up four points from their opening two Kent Invicta League games of the season.

The club sealed promotion into the league after finishing in third-place in the Haart of Kent County League Premier last season and they were delighted when they had their application for promotion accepted.

They began their campaign with a 3-2 win away to Lydd Town at the weekend, before they threw away a 2-0 lead against fellow tenants Orpington, who scored twice in the final ten minutes to snatch an unlikely draw last night.

Eltham Palace have secured three promotions on the spin and 32-year-old Naden is pleased with the way his side have taken to the Kent Invicta League during the opening week of the new season.

He said: “I said before the season started, when I spoke to you, that I would’ve taken four points from the first two games.

“In hindsight now when you’ve looked at the quality, Lydd were a poor side on Saturday and the scoreline flattered them and I think on reflection we really deserved to take three points last night.

“Before the season started I would’ve taken four points all day.  In hindsight, I’m disappointed not to have six.”

Naden takes his side to Homelands Stadium to face an Ashford United side that came away from Kent League side Deal Town with a deserved 2-1 victory in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round last weekend, and followed up with a 2-0 home win over Bearsted in midweek.

“I can’t wait to take my boys down there,” said the Eltham Palace manager, who described the game as “the Man City and the Wimbledon off old almost.”

He continued: “Listen, they’ve got a few quid down there.  They’re going to be a quality side. All we can do is go down there, set the boys out as well as we can, organise them as well as we can and roll our sleeves up and give them a game.

“On paper we’re under no illusions.  Of course they’re going to be a better side than us.  Players don’t pay me a tenner if they can go and earn 70-80 quid a week and that’s the calibre of players they’re going to have down there compared to the boys that I’ve got down here.

“I said before the season started we’ll give anyone a game. We’ll roll our sleeves up and have a go at them.”

Ashford United boss Paul Chambers has enticed an experienced squad to drop down to the Kent Invicta League and are the favourites to go on and secure promotion into the Kent League at the end of the season.

“Of course you want to set the boys up to get a result down there but we don’t want to set the boys up to be disappointed at the end,” said Naden.

“I’m not saying we’re expecting to go down there to lose. We’ve got nothing to lose when we go down there.

“We can go and have a go at them. Everyone’s expecting us not to pick up points down there.  The boys can go and enjoy the day. It’s a lovely stadium, lovely set-up and we don’t play there every week.

“That said, if I’m honest, if I could take a draw of you, I would take that all day long.

“We went there and won last year when we played them in the Cup. We beat them 3-0. That was a very different Ashford side and an even more different Eltham Palace side but who knows? Stranger things have happened! “

Naden has watched Phoenix Sports thrash Crockenhill 6-0 this week and he has seen Lydd Town play in the flesh and he says his side can compete in the division in their debut season.

“I’ve had a look at a couple of sides in pre-season and there’s definitely four or five sides that aren’t as good as us from what I’ve seen already,” he said.

“If we can finish anywhere around midtable or just below that’s a decent year for us in the first year with the squad I’ve got.  Anything above that is a bonus.”

ORPINGTON manager Sean Glover said he was pleased with his side’s good character and determination to get back into last night’s game against Eltham Palace.

The home side were in full control and deserved their 2-0 lead through Lloyd Miller and substitute’s Sam Parry’s free-kick.

However, the turning point came in the 70^th minute when Miller side-footed his shot the wrong side of the post when he was put through on goal.

Orpington, who finished in last place last season, fought back after that miss and pulled a goal back through substitute Nick Round in the last ten minutes before midfielder Filipe Caruacho held his nerve to score with a late penalty to snatch a point.

Glover, 29, says he is pleased with his side’s start to the new campaign, having defeated Meridian 2-1 at home at the weekend.

“Yes, I’m quite happy with that,” said the manager, who was appointed in the summer.

When asked his aspirations for the season ahead, Glover replied, “Not to finish bottom!  I’m a realistic and I know the club’s got a long way to go.  Coming into this division last year was a big step for them. We jumped up two league’s in total so jumping two leagues you don’t have the same calibre of players from two leagues below, so we’ve worked hard in getting a few more players in, a few different faces and a little bit of a classier player and it shows at the beginning of the season with good results.

“I’d like to finish anywhere out of the bottom half. A mid-table finish would be lovely and would be a reasonable return.

“It’s just a building block for myself and the club.”

Orpington welcome Rusthall to Green Court Road in Crockenhill on Saturday.

Rusthall were thrashed 6-0 at home to Phoenix Sports last weekend and coach Darrell Cousins watched last night’s 2-2 draw against Eltham Palace.

Glover expects Paul McDonagh’s side to bounce back from their opening day shocker.

He said: “It can clearly go one or two ways with Rusthall – they obviously got beat 6-0 so they’ll want to prove to their manager that they’re worthy of their shirts so I’m expecting them to come out fighting.

“If I’m honest I don’t expect any team in this league to just roll over so they’ll be a tough opposition regardless whether they’re home or away.

“Getting beat 6-0 is never nice and it always hurts so they’ll want to prove a point.”