Let's win cup showdown for the fans, says Farnie - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

At last! A proper Kent League Cup tie takes place at Culverden Stadium on Monday night to whet the appetite of the Kent League family, writes Stephen McCartney.

Tunbridge Wells’ manager Martin Farnie rates his side’s chances of reaching the quarter-finals as 50-50 - as is the case of any one-off cup showdown.

Farnie’s men need to beat Thamesmead Town to book their place in the quarter-finals and a trip to Erith & Belvedere as their last group game actually means something.

But the Mead, who fell out of the top two in the Kent League table for the very first time this season following their 4-0 defeat at Herne Bay yesterday, need to avoid defeat to play the Deres in the last eight at Park View Road on Sunday.

Describing his side’s chances, Farnie said EXCLUSIVELY to www.kentishfootball.co.uk on the eve of the Culverden Stadium showdown: “50-50. Ninety minutes of football, two teams out there, it’s 0-0, so we’ve got a 50-50 chance of winning it.”

But Farnie is expecting a backlash from a Mead side that have lost four of their last six league games.

“It could work against us, or for us,” he said. “They could decide to get out of their little slump and we might be their perfect opportunity to do that. I don’t know. I haven’t taken much notice of what everyone else have been doing really.”

Having lost 1-0 to Beckenham Town at Eden Park Avenue yesterday, Farnie agreed that his side had played well but didn’t take any of their chances - the story of their season to date.

“Exactly. We had some chances, their goalkeeper made one or two good saves, Dave Hassett hit one over the bar from one or two yards out.

“We played well, started ever so slow but we deserved to get something out of the game.

“But if you don’t score you don’t win games of football and that is what is killing us at the moment.”

Farnie is expecting to be without young midfielder Alex Rich for up to five weeks after he picked up a nasty looking injury at Beckenham yesterday.

“He’s got a really bad knock but it’s not as serious as we first thought,” Farnie revealed.  “We didn’t think it was ligament damage but he’s got badly bruised from the middle of his thigh to the middle of his shin. Halfway through his thigh to his shin it went black yesterday and I would imagine he would be out for four to five weeks with it.”

Farnie will be without cup-tied pair, striker, Dave Hassett and midfielder Richard Bradbourne as both have played in earlier group games for their previous club, Greenwich Borough.

But experienced duo, Adrian Hatcher (back from suspension) and Wayne Balmer (ankle) have been drafted into the squad for tomorrow’s must-win game.

But Abdul El-Ferdi, who left Culverden Stadium to join Hassett at Greenwich Borough during the close season, cannot play for Wells tomorrow night as the Harrow Meadow outfit have yet cancelled his registration with the Kent League.

“It’s a cup final to a certain degree,” said Farnie. “If we get through tomorrow night it gives something to play for, for the rest of the season.

“We have to try to get something for the season. We owe it to some of the fans that support us through the season.

“We haven’t rolled over once and haven’t allowed anyone to beat us up but we are lacking a bit of quality but it’s tough at this moment in time.”

Farnie has issued a rallying cry to his battered troops to give it their all against Thamesmead.

He tells them: “Give it everything they’ve got, go for the win and try to get something out of it.”

He added: “Three or four of them are hurting quite bad with the results but chins are up and hopefully we can get something out of it.

“This is what cup football’s all about. It’s a knockout competition, we have got to get a win and that’s the end of it.”

But the former Dartford coach, and a member of the Wells squad that won the Kent League title back in 1985, wants the Kent League Cup competition to revert back to it’s old format - one chance saloon.

He said: “I can’t stand this competition. It really drives me mad. It’s the worst thing the Kent League has come up with - it’s absolute dross!

“How can you lose games and win a competition? I don’t like the Champions League as it’s not a proper cup competition and I don't like this.

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

Tunbridge Wells v Thamesmead Town
Kent League Cup Group D
Monday 5^th February 2007
Kick Off 7:45pm
At Culverden Stadium, Culverden Down, Tunbridge Wells