It would be the club's dream to get into the play-offs, says Thamesmead Town boss Keith McMahon

The Bayliss Avenue club lie in third-place in the Ryman League Division One North table, with 76 points from 36 games.  They are eleven points behind leaders Grays Athletic and ten points clear of fifth-placed Aveley and have only six league games remaining.

McMahon’s men picked up four points over the Easter campaign, a 1-1 draw at Aveley was followed by a 4-0 home win over their only Kent rivals, Chatham Town, on Easter Monday.

McMahon described their Easter as “really positive,” and said: “Our trip to Aveley, fourth against third and we came away with a 1-1 draw and to be fair very disappointed not to come away with three.

“First half we should have had a penalty and they should have had a player sent off for handball on the goal line. We’ve hit the bar and had two kicked off the line.

“We put in a really good performance against Aveley. Saturday was the strongest side I’ve been able to put out for about six weeks. We’ve had a lot of injuries and we’ve had some players that have come back and we’ve managed to get some results.

“We’ve only lost twice since the beginning of Christmas and we’ve got a lot of belief in the team now and we just have to see how far we can go.”

Reflecting on their win over Kevin Watson’s side, McMahon added:
“The Chatham game, no disrespect to them, but I don’t think they turned up so it was a little bit of a canter for us and it was very comfortable.”

Thamesmead Town welcome eighth-placed Tilbury to Bayliss Avenue on Saturday afternoon.

“Tough game,” said McMahon. “They’ve always had big sides.  We beat them 1-0 at their place in a close game.

“They made the play-offs last year and they were hoping to do the same again. They’ve got a couple of games in hand but it shouldn’t worry us. 

“It’s going to be tough.  We’re at home. Our home performances have been excellent and if we put a performance in we should be able to get three points.”

McMahon has set his sights on reaching the play-offs, which would be an excellent achievement by all at the club on their limited resources.

He said: “From day one, we’ve always said that it would be the club’s dream just to get into the play-offs and we’ve done remarkably well to get there.

“I’m pretty confident that we’re definitely going to get there. We’ve got a 10 point gap over the teams below us. At one point you’re sitting there 28 points behind Maldon just after Christmas, so if we can win our game in hand, we’re two points behind them.

“We’re eleven points behind Grays and we have to play them.  They’ve got tough games.  All we’ve said is we have to win all of our games and see where we finish. Realistically we can challenge for second, which would be good for the play-offs (having home advantage).

“We’ll worry about where we finish and see what happens and we’re two (play-off) games away from being promoted.  Getting there would be amazing for a club of our size and stature.  We’re just enjoying it while we can.”

McMahon gave the latest news on the crippling ongoing saga with the delay in moving into the new facilities at Bayliss Avenue.

“There isn’t,” he replied.  “Everyone knows as much as us. We’re waiting for the main electric to go on. We’ve been told by the end of the season. They’ve cleared stuff out.

“I see Charlton Ladies used the main stand to watch the game on Sunday and we know as much as everyone else and it’s massively frustrating.  It’s just an ongoing sage.  We’ve had a date, again of May, who knows, we’ll see what happens and go from there.”

Whether the stand will be open for Ryman League games remains to be seen.

“Well, by all accounts people were sitting in it watching the game on Sunday.  All the fencing has been taken down around the ground so people can walk around there.  Again, I don’t think it has been cleared to open. I don’t know if the builders have moved it for a week or so to do something.  I’ll have to see what it’s like on Saturday when we’re at home.”

McMahon revealed there’s plenty of wrangling’s going on behind the scenes.

“There’s a lot of wrangling’s going on behind the scenes about the future of the club there, which we can’t go into massive detail and there’s a lot of things that need to be said that we just need to sort out so there’s still a lot of negotiations to do before the football club steps into the new facility.

“There’s a lot to be done but hopefully it will have a really good ending with us having a good finish to the season and then hopefully moving into the new development and we can look forward.
 
“No other football club would be able to do what we’ve had to do. Financially it’s crippled us. 

“Turning up at the ground and it’s one date, the next date and the next date and the next date. The players and the committee have done remarkably well just to keep going and enjoying their football.

“I think we’ve proved to the club is not just the first team, but the youth sections as well.  What we do in the community is massive, especially with the ups and downs with the development.”

Thamesmead Town deserve promotion with all their off-the-field troubles and welcoming Championship neighbours Charlton Athletic in the Kent Senior Cup (Sponsored by Portablefloodlights.com) Semi-Finals on Tuesday 23 April will be the icing on the cake and will certainly attract their largest attendance.

“It’s going to be huge, but three days before we welcome Grays at home on the 20.  We’re going to have a couple of massive, massive days. If people keep winning, Grays can win the league if they win all of their games if they beat us at our place.  I’m expecting a big crowd.  It’s going to be first versus second or third.

“Then on Tuesday we play our closest neighbours in the semi-finals of the Kent Senior Cup, so it’s going to be a massive month for the football club. The next six weeks are huge for us.”

Visit Thamesmead Town’s website: www.thamesmeadtownfc.co.uk  

Thamesmead Town  v  Tilbury
Ryman League Division One North
Saturday 6^th April 2013
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Bayliss Avenue, Thamesmead, London SE28 8NJ