Kent rivals' looking up

Monday 21st September 2009

DARREN Ibrahim will be handed his first start of the season as Ashford Town go in search for back-to-back victories on Wednesday night, writes Stephen McCartney.

The second choice goalkeeper has been patiently waiting in the wings but with Scott Chalmers-Stevens ruled out with a knee ligaments injury, which could rule out the former Margate and Dover Athletic stopper for a period of upto 12 weeks, Lovell has shown faith in the 21-year-old goalkeeper for Wednesday’s Kent derby clash against fellow strugglers Whitstable Town at Homelands Stadium.

“He’s got a good chance so we’ll see what Darren will do and if he will perform well,” Lovell told www.kentishfootball.co.uk tonight.

“Darren has been patient and he’s played a few games in the reserves this year and done well, so we’ll give him his opportunity.

“It’s a chance for him, unfortunately for goalkeeper’s they don’t have time to prove themselves as any little mistake will lead to a goal or a bad result, so it may add a little bit of pressure on him so if he does well then I don’t have to look at (bringing in) another goalkeeper.

Lovell’s Ashford climbed off the foot of the Ryman League Division One South table with a 3-2 home win over Whyteleafe at the weekend.

The Nuts & Bolts are now third-from-bottom and Lovell wants his rebuilt side to build on their first league win of the season.

“Whyteleafe took the lead in the latter part of the first half,” reflected Lovell. “We didn’t deserve it, we were the better side in the first half and came out the second half and controlled it again and took a 3-1 lead, although they scored later on, it was a well worth victory.

“The boys have been playing well and not getting the results and again the confidence has been there. We haven’t been getting the breaks. We worked hard Saturday and deserved our breaks and it was important to get our first three points.”

Lovell, who is looking forward to his second Kent derby of the season, is expecting a tough encounter against the visiting Oystermen.

“If we keep progressing and playing well it won’t be long until we move up the league,” promised Lovell.

“We have take into the game another good performance. Whitstable are always a tough game and if we play like we can do we will get something out of the game.

“It’s like most of the teams in this league, if you play well you get the results and if you’re off your game, obviously you don’t. You have to make sure you have a team giving everything.”

The Ashford boss says the Homelands faithful shouldn’t be too concerned about their league position - as they’ve only played six games.

Lovell said: “You’re only at the bottom of the league if you’re not getting results. If you’re bottom you deserve to be there.

“I can’t look at the league’s yet as we’ve only played six games. If you’re bottom of the league after 26-30 games that’s when you look at it.

“When we have played 26-30 games we should be in the top half.

“We had to rebuild this year and have lost three-quarters of our team so it’s taken time but we will get there and when we do get to 26-30 games then we should be in a much healthier position.”

For Whitstable Town boss Mark Munday, he has seen his side knock much-fancied Ryman Premier League side Carshalton Athletic out of the FA Cup - only to lose 2-0 at Walton & Hersham at the weekend.

“We don’t want to be known as a side that labelled as up for the big games and follows it up with a poor result,” Munday told www.kentishfootball.co.uk tonight.

“We want a consistent team performance so we can get a little run going and start building our league points up and getting in the right end in the league.”

Reflecting on his side’s fourth league defeat of the season, Munday said, “After 75 minutes on Saturday it had nil-nil written all over it. Walton & Hersham are unbeaten this year and have beaten some very good sides.

“We’ve switched off in our own box and weren’t doing what we had been doing for the first 75 minutes. At this level you’re going to get punished for it and that’s what happened.

“It is frustrating in that respect as we worked hard for 75 minutes. As I’ve said before, any positive result Saturday, we stay positive for Wednesday and will stand us in good stead for our (FA Cup game at Potters Bar Town) on Saturday.”

Munday, who is without the influential Jake Gess who completes his suspension after the game, insists the Homelands clash is not a must-win game.

“Everyone knows that Ashford haven’t had the best of times at the start of the season and they’ve got their first win on Saturday and they will be buoyed by it,” added Munday.

But he wants his side to show their battling qualities against their Kent rivals.

“We have to get right amongst them and put them under pressure and don’t let them settle,” said Munday.

“I don’t like putting pressure on people to win, but it’s not a must-win game but a win will do us a world of good and would take us up into midtable, which is our target.

“To be honest the league doesn’t have a true reflection on anything as everyone’s beating everybody but to get a few results together you will be in the top five.

“We are very aware of any positive results you get will bode well into moving you up into a position where you want to be.”

www.kentishfootball.co.uk will be covering this game.

Visit Ashford Town’s website: www.ashfordtownfc.co.uk

Visit Whitstable Town’s website: www.whitstabletownfc.co.uk

Ashford Town v Whitstable Town

Ryman League Division One South

Wednesday 23rd September 2009

Kick Off 7:45pm

At Homelands Stadium, Ashford Road, Kingsnorth, Ashford, Kent TN26 1NJ