The players have got to go out there and do it, says Hollands & Blair boss Paul Piggott

HOLLANDS & BLAIR manager Paul Piggott says he sets his sights on winning the Kent Invicta League title this season.


The Gillingham-based outfit fell short last season when they finished runners-up to Barnehurst-based Phoenix Sports, who make their Southern Counties East Football League debut away to Lordswood tomorrow.

Blair welcome Sutton Athletic to Star Meadow tomorrow.  Their Hextable-based opponents finished in eighth-place last season but are under the guidance of new manager James Collins this season.

“We’re raring to go for the first game,” said Piggott.

“A tough game. We always seem to get a tough game first game of the season so I don’t expect anything else against Sutton.

“They’ve got a new manager so there will be fresh players, new ideas and it will be tough especially as we set our targets so high as we do.   We’re expecting to win more games than we don’t and other teams want to come and beat us and Sutton will be no different and we’ll go out there and do our best to get three points.”

With Phoenix Sports and third-placed Ashford United promoted, Piggott insists it’s his side’s turn to get out of the Kent Invicta League at the end of this season.

“Again, we’ve set our sights high, we want to win things every year and to do that you have to win more games of football than not,” said Piggott.

“We know teams want to come and beat us and we want to beat them as well, that’s what it’s all about.”

When asked what he learnt from last season, Piggott wants more than a League Cup success under his belt.

“I’ve learnt that we were four point short really, that was the only thing,” he said.

“We scored 96 goals, we conceded the least (25). I don’t think we could’ve done much more.

“The team that did it just did that little bit extra, that not every year you’d get in the league.”

Piggott revealed the club are pulling out all the stops to ensure their ground at Darland Avenue meets ground grading criteria.

“The new changing rooms are ready, the new dug-outs have been done so we’re not far off it,” he said.

“The committee, to be fair, have done a lot of work up there and we’re just getting there and we’re nearly there now.

“We’ve got to do our bit. We keep banging on at the club to do their bit and rightly so. They’ve been knocking on my door and I have to do my bit and that’s why I’m here.

“It’s important that you get off to a good start and you lay down the gauntlet for everyone else, but there’s teams there trying their hardest to stop us so it’s down to us to go there and to perform.

“There’s no point in talking what you’re going to do now and how you’re going to do it. The players have got to go out there and do it.”

When asked what he is expecting from the fifteen-team Kent Invicta League this season, Piggott replied: “I think the league’s got stronger. It’s still the same teams trying to get into the Kent League and I do feel the league has got stronger and stronger every year.

“Look at the two teams that have gone up, Ashford and Phoenix. I bet they’re in the top six or seven next year, definitely so I think this is a tough league. There’s new teams coming in (Glebe and Fleet Leisure), new managers, so it’s exciting. I like it. I think it’s good.”

Visit Hollands & Blair’s website: www.hollandsandblair.co.uk

Hollands & Blair  v  Sutton Athletic
Kent Invicta League
Saturday 10^th August 2013
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Star Meadow Sports Club, Darland Avenue, Gillingham, Kent ME7 3AN