I think the players' will be hurting and they'll want to put it right against Whyteleafe, says Clews

BECKENHAM TOWN coach Jason Clews insists his side will bounce back at home against Whyteleafe on Tuesday night.



Clews was left shell-shocked and lost for words following their 5-1 defeat away to VCD Athletic on the opening day of the Kent Hurlimann Football League season.

Beckenham opened the scoring after only 87 seconds courtesy of Steve McNamra’s deflected 20-yard free-kick, which left Vickers’ keeper Jack Bradshaw red-faced, before the home side equalised through Aiden Pursglove’s seventh-minute penalty.

Pursglove was lucky to stay on the pitch when he went in late on Beckenham keeper Nick Blue, but after consulting his assistant Godfred Osei, referee Kevin Carpenter opted to keep his cards in his pocket.

Things went downhill for Beckenham during a sorry second half display as Pursglove added his second nine minutes into the second half, before Ricky Bennett’s side scored three more in the final 20 minutes, through Uche Ibemere, Karl Dent and substitute Billy Shinners, as Beckenham’s arguing players capitulated.

Clews demands a positive reaction against newcomers Whyteleafe, who visit Eden Park Avenue on Tuesday evening.

The Surrey outfit twice threw away leads against Canterbury City in their 2-2 draw at Church Road – watched by a crowd of 86 – in their first ever game in the Kent League following their relegation from the Ryman League.

Clews said: “The good thing about football is you can bounce back quite quickly, so we’ll gather our thoughts over the weekend and the next couple of days and see what went wrong and see how we can correct it.

“I think the players' will be hurting from Saturday’s performance and they’ll want to put it right for themselves and for us so I think we’ll bounce back on Tuesday and have a lot better performance.”

Clews wants to make Eden Park Avenue a fortress this season and ensure yesterday’s shocker was just a one-off.

Looking ahead, club stalwart Clews said, “To be honest it will be a good game. Again, at home we should be unbeatable at home, not all season. We try to make it a little bit of a fortress for ourselves.  As I say, we look to bounce back in a big way and get something from the game.”

Clews revealed there will be changes made for their first home game of the season.

He said: “There’s a couple we’re probably thinking about already, so we’ll see what we can do to rectify what we done yesterday.”

Beckenham Town will travel to Tunbridge Wells next Saturday in the Extra Preliminary Round of The FA Cup.

Martin Larkin’s side were held to a 1-1 draw by Fisher on the opening day of the season, as big central defender Perry Spackman relied on a long throw into the box to give Tunbridge Wells the lead at Culverden Stadium, before Richie Monan levelled for The Fish, who will go top of the table if they beat Erith Town at Champion Hill tomorrow night.

Beckenham Town progressed to the Second Qualifying Round last season, going down 2-1 at home to Ryman League Division One South side Worthing after coming away from the Sussex coast with a hard-fought 0-0 draw.

Clews said: “We’ll take Tuesday first and see where we go, see how we bounce back and take it on from there really and work on a few bits.

“We’ll have a training session on the Thursday and work on a few bits and pieces and take it on to Saturday.

“We’re going to concentrate more on the Tuesday first before the FA Cup.

“We took Worthing all the way so we’ll hope to get to where we got to last year or a little bit further, get some bits and pieces (prize money) in for the club but the main game for me really is thinking about Tuesday. 

“We’re not going to be thinking about the FA Cup until Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. We’re thinking about Tuesday and see how we can bounce back.”

The games against Whyteleafe and a FA Cup tie will lift the gloom inside the dressing room.

Clews added: “ We’re down, very down.  A lot of players were very quiet.  We had a word with them. We had an off day. We lost our shape and everyone’s disappointed inside the dressing room. Hopefully they will all bounce back on Tuesday.”

The winners of Saturday’s FA Cup tie will each scoop £1,000 in prize money.

Visit Beckenham Town’s website: www.beckenhamtownfc.co.uk

Beckenham Town  v Whyteleafe
Kent Hurlimann Fotball League
Tuesday 7^th August 2012
Kick Off 7:30pm
at Eden Park Avenue, Beckenham, Kent BR3 3JL