It will be great for Sevenoaks Town to win the biggest trophy they've ever won, says Darren Anslow

SEVENOAKS TOWN manager Darren Anslow says he wants to add the Umbro Kent Senior Trophy to the list of honours that he has added to his Curriculum Vitae.



The Greatness Park outfit have struggled all season and sit second-from-bottom in the Kent League and face fifth-placed Kent Invicta League outfit Hollands & Blair in Sunday’s Park View Road showpiece final.

Sevenoaks Town reached the Kent League Cup Final for the very first time in May 2010, but they went down to a defeat by Simon Halsey’s Herne Bay.

Anslow, 41, who lives in Eltham and runs the Academy at Ryman Premier League Cray Wanderers, says everyone at the club is looking forward to the big game.

“The whole club is looking forward to it,” he said.

“We were looking forward to playing Erith & Belvedere,” a club who were thrown out of the competition after they played Michael Abnett against Cray Valley (Paper Mills) in the quarter-finals without international clearance and were thrown out of the Final.

“Micky (Collins, the Erith & Belvedere manager) had the decency to phone me up the day after (the club’s hearing at Wembley Stadium) to explain the situation to me and I feel a little bit sorry for them with what’s happened.  They didn’t mean it.  It’s a little bit of an oversight.

“It’s given Hollands & Blair a chance and it will be a decent final.”

Anslow has done his homework on the Gillingham based Kent Invicta League outfit.

“We’ve had Hollands & Blair watched twice, but it’s no secret as far as I’m concerned, they should have been promoted in the last two seasons.  They have a really good record against Kent League clubs and if they come up, realistically they’d be a top-five side.

“We’ve not performed really well in the league this year.  No one is going to underestimate them. We’ve seen them play a couple of times so we know what they’re good at and they’re there on merit.”

Anslow rubbished suggestions that his side are favourites for the game.

“I don’t believe we are the favourites,” he said.  “I’m being realistic.  I’m looking at them, had they come up when they should have come up, they’d be a top five-six side.  I think they’ve done well.

“I would edge them the favourites, but I don’t think it matters in a Cup Final.  I think it’s an old cliché, it’s whoever can deal with the pressure on the day.

“I think this season they’ve been in a similar position than ourselves in terms of injuries and suspensions to players.  They’ve struggled a little bit – as we have.

“It’s a shame. Missing (leading goalscorer) Richmond Kissi will be massive. He had a very slow start to the season because of injury and we just managed to get him fit again and flying and he was integral in our good run.

“He’s done his ankle ligaments really bad, against Woodstock.

“We’ve still got quite a few players’ missing.  Three or four are out for the rest of the season and a couple of boys have got fitness tests tomorrow.”

Anslow was asked how the Cup Final will be won.

“How will it be won?  That’s a good question!  I think having seen Hollands & Blair over the last few years’, they’re a very organised side. We have to deal with set-pieces. I think, maybe, set pieces will have a part to play in this final.

“We’ll try to play like we have done all season. I hope it’s a good game.  I generally mean that. I’ve got a feeling it will be a big crowd on Sunday.  I think the fact it’s Hollands & Blair it will be a bigger crowd because the fact you’ve got two league’s now, you possibly could have a lot of teams from the Kent Invicta League and the Kent League go and watch it.

“The Kent Invicta League will want to show what a strong League they are and obviously the Kent Premier League are hoping we win it so we show we’re a strong League. 

“They’re league position and our league position, there’s probably not a lot in there. 

Anslow has challenged his more experienced heads to use their heads on the big stage.

He said: “We’ve got some quite steady, more experienced players now, with some younger boys as well.

“Potentially, I think the experienced players will have a lot to play, so you’re Kevin Lott’s, Sean Brown’s, Mike Bishop’s, they’ve been around the block a little bit and I’ll be looking at them on the day to help the younger ones through.”

Jordan Clark, Fraser Cronin, Tom Skelton and James Golding were part of Anslow’s Cray Wanderers side last year that were successful in the reserve team ranks.

“Two or three boys that are in contention for places on Sunday played in two Cup finals and won the (reserve) league last year. Even though they’re still eighteen, they’ve been involved in two Cup finals last year.

“They were in and around the (Cray Wanderers) squad as young players, so they’ve got a little experience of Cup Finals, even though they’re at a young age. It’s something to look forward to.  Cup Finals don’t come around every year, but the whole squad will play a part.”

Sevenoaks Town are only a win away from a potential Kent Senior Cup tie against neighbouring Bromley or Tonbridge Angels next season, as the Kent Senior Trophy winners enter that competition the following year.

“I think it’s a big incentive,” added Anslow.

“Only joking, but what is the price be on doing all three cups in three seasons?  You never know, you have to dream.  Realistically it won’t happen!

“It’s a benchmark to play against those sides.  We’re all in it to play or manage at the highest level that we can.  This is a new experience for us. I consider myself to still be young. I’ve come out of reserve football. I’ve been successful managing for one season that I managed on my own.  We won two trophies and come runners-up in another one.  I’ve moved into this and this is my first season in senior football.

“It’s not been great in the league but I’d say not a lot of clubs have had to contend with what we have over the season.  

“To get to the Final and maybe win it will be a fantastic season personally for me.”

Anslow will see winning the Kent Senior Trophy for Sevenoaks Town as a major highlight.

“I think it will be fantastic,” he said. “If people in the game have got a genuine knowledge I think it’s what you have to put up with through the season in terms of we haven’t had anything. We have had a side of young players.  We’ve done well to bring in the experienced players, who have been getting money elsewhere and we have managed to bring them in.

“How many managers have got to the Intermediate Cup Final and the Kent Senior Trophy two years’ running?  I’m the only manager who has had a go at it and that speaks for itself!

“It will be fantastic to have won that on your CV and I also think it will be fantastic for the club in general, There’s a lot of people who have been at the club for years. It’s a thankless task, they do it for nothing.  The club hasn’t got investment. There’s a little group of five or six people who have been doing everything. 

“It will be great for my CV, don’t get me wrong, but I also think it will be fantastic, it will be great for the club to win ultimately the biggest trophy they’ve won in their existence.  If we’re the management team to do it, fantastic!

Visit Sevenoaks Town’s website: www.sevenoakstownfc.org

Sevenoaks Town  v  Hollands & Blair
Umbro Kent Senior Trophy Final
Sunday 15^th April 2012
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Park View Road, Welling, Kent DA16 1SY