Thanet showdown will make or break our season - Yorath

MARGATE boss Terry Yorath says winning their home game against Thanet rivals Ramsgate over the Easter holiday will be key in maintaining their Ryman Premier League status, writes Stephen McCartney.

Despite being third-from-bottom in the Ryman Premier League table, yesterday’s 3-1 home win over mid-table Billericay Town gives Yorath’s men a fighting chance to beat the drop.

Yorath’s men have 15 points to play for and are just one point away from safety, but their next three games can be described as crucial six-pointers, before they play two sides that are currently inside the play-off zone.

Next Saturday, the Blues travel to Harrow Borough, a side that are three places but just one point above them, before Yorath takes his side to bottom-of-the-table Heybridge Swifts on Easter Saturday.

Then, it’s the Thanet derby with fellow strugglers Ramsgate at Hartsdown Park on Easter Monday, before the Blues finish their campaign with a home game against fourth placed Sutton United (18^th April), before a trip to runners-up elect Staines Town on the last day of the season.

“I think the ability that we’ve got in the side, we should be winning more games than we do,” the Welsh legend told BBC Radio Kent yesterday.

“The biggest thing is the holiday weekend,” he added. “We’ve got Ramsgate at home, which is obviously a local derby, which will mean a lot of things to everybody.

“That could be one of the games that will tell us if we’re going to stay up or not.”

Quotes courtesy of BBC Radio Kent: www.bbc.co.uk/kent

Visit Margate’s website: www.margate-fc.com