It's going to be an exciting Christmas, says Bromley coach Hugo Langton

BROMLEY coach Hugo Langton says he is preparing the players for some real Christmas crackers.

The Ravens sit proudly at the top of the Skrill South table with 43 points from 18 games and are seven points clear of Eastleigh, who have a game in hand on the Kent outfit.

Mark Goldberg’s side have won their last five games, keeping five clean sheets in the process.

The Hayes Lane faithful are praying that their club can clinch their first league title since 1961 when Bromley won the Isthmian League (Ryman Premier League in today’s money) title.

Bromley travel to ninth-placed Weston-super-Mare on Saturday – a side that have collected 26 points from their 19 league outings.

But despite beating Havant & Waterlooville (2-0), London Bari (4-0 in the London Senior Cup), Farnborough (3-0), Dover Athletic (2-0) and Basingstoke Town (1-0), Langton is keeping to club policy of not raising expectations.

“We’re right bang in the middle of a tough sequence of games,” said Tonbridge-based Langton, who coaches the academy on a full-time basis at Thamesmead Town.

“We’ve just had two back-to-back away games and three out of the next four are away too.

“We’ve got a huge test for us, starting at Weston on Saturday.  They’re well-organised and play some good passing football.

“We’ve two games with Ebbsfleet and a trip to Whitehawk (28 December) too.”

Kent rivals Ebbsfleet United arrive at Hayes Lane on Boxing Day, Thursday 26 December (3pm) in a mouth-watering clash, before the return game takes place at Stonebridge Road on New Years Day.

Steve Brown’s side are bang in form and have won their last eight games and are presently sitting in fifth-place in the Conference South table with 30 points from 17 games – thirteen points adrift of Bromley.

Langton said: “The Ebbsfleet games will be exciting for all involved, two clubs in good form, hopefully both will be belters.”

Langton, who arrived at Hayes Lane in the summer, is keeping everybody’s feet on the ground.

He said: “Football is full of highs and lows and you try not to get too up or down as a result.

“Yes, we are top of the league and we are enjoying being there.  How long it lasts, who knows?

“Everyone wants to knock you off your perch so we’ve just got to do our best to stay up there.

“We prepare right for games and the players have been magnificent.  Let’s put this into context.  Everyone at the start of the season hoped Bromley would finish in upper midtable and we are overachieving to an extent.

“There will be twists and turns as they are some seriously good sides about like Eastleigh, Sutton and Ebbsfleet - clubs with bigger resources than us.

“It’s going to be an exciting Christmas and second half of the season and who knows where we will end up. It’s too early to say.

“We will just keep trying to win one game at a time and keep doing our best.”

Ebbsfleet United welcome Sutton United to Stonebridge Road on Saturday, before playing three crunch games, the double-header with Bromley and the home game against Brown’s former club Dover Athletic on 28 December.

“I think it would do us a favour and I think it will do the rest of the league a favour if we could peg Bromley back because they are a good side,” said Brown.

“We did beat them in the FA Trophy 4-1 but that counts for very little come the league games.

“We’ve got a very tough Christmas period, we’re fully aware of that. We’ve got Sutton, Bromley, Dover and Bromley – four really, really, really tough fixtures and if we can come through the other side of that with a reasonable amount of points we’re sort of in the hunt.   

“I think we’ll really look forward to give it a real good push.”

Visit Bromley’s website: www.bromleyfc.net
 
Weston-super-Mare  v  Bromley
Skrill South
Saturday 21^st December 2013
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Winterstoke Road, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset BS24 9AA