O'Connell: Beating the drop is definitely on

Sunday 14th March 2010

MARGATE manager Iain O’Connell remains confident that his side can escape relegation from the Ryman Premier League and has nothing but praise for the way his players battled through to clinch three vital points at Billericay Town yesterday.

The Thanet side climbed off the foot of the table with a 2-1 win over in Essex, and having beaten Tooting & Mitcham United by the same score in the week, Margate have secured their first back-to-back wins since last November.

Leroy Huggins - a recent signing from VCD Athletic - scored his second goal in as many games as his last-gasp goal sealed the points and Margate are now six points adrift of safety (taking goal-difference into account) with eleven league games left.

“We weathered a bit of a storm,” Essex based O’Connell told www.margate-fc.com: “We didn’t really have any good chances, but we broke forward in the last minute and Leroy got another winner.

With Billericay picking up a bit of form - not least from their impressive victory at Dartford a week ago - the result was all the more pleasing for the Margate boss.

“When you look, they beat Dartford 4-1 and (for us) to go there, and obviously go down to 10 men and still win, then all I can do is applaud the player’s effort,“ he said.

“It was just total commitment, each and every one of them, and I’m just so happy. They really deserved to win.”

Reflecting on the progress made in such a short period of time at the helm, Iain said: “There’s enough quality (in the squad). “There was a bit of the jigsaw missing up front and we’ve got that now (with Leroy Huggins).

“Not many teams are going to beat us” is the manager’s confident prediction. “So beating the drop is definitely on” he concludes.

With games coming thick and fast following postponements earlier in the season, the coming week offers an opportunity to keep the momentum going with Sutton United’s visit to Hartsdown Park on Tuesday, but the postponement of Thursday’s trip to Wealdstone following the Stones progress in the Championship Manager Cup offers a welcome opportunity for some time on the training pitch too.

But the manager has confidence in his players. “They all know what they need to do; they all know their jobs; their responsibilities. If they can continue to do that, then we’ve definitely got a chance.”

Quotes courtesy of www.margate-fc.com

Margate v Sutton United

Ryman Premier League

Tuesday 16th March 2010

Kick Off 7:45pm

At At Hartsdown Park, Hartsdown Road, Margate, Kent CT9 5QZ