The pressure is on Margate, says Thamesmead Town boss Keith McMahon

THAMESMEAD TOWN boss Keith McMahon says he is expecting a really tough game at Margate in the FA Cup on Saturday, writes Stephen McCartney.


The Mead, who play one division lower than Chris Kinnear’s side, travel to Hartsdown Park for a Second Qualifying Round tie.

When asked what he is expecting against the Ryman Premier Leaguers, McMahon said: “Well, obviously a really, really tough game.  They’re favourites to win and rightly so.  They’re in a league above us, they’ve got a really good squad, they’ve got a really, really good side, we’re expecting a really hard game.”

McMahon added: “It’s going to be difficult for us.  I think we’re just going to go down there and enjoy the day and the pressure is off us from the league.  We’ve got nothing to lose, the pressure is off us. 

“It’s going to be a fairly decent crowd, which is something that we’re not used to.  People aren’t going to give us a chance but we’ll give it a go.  We’ll do our best. 

“We’re going to go down there afterwards, the lads are going to have an evening out down there and hopefully if we can get a result it will make it even better.

“There’s no pressure on us, all the pressure is on Margate.  They’re a bigger club, we know that.  If they play well on the day they should beat us, but you never know, it’s a Cup game.”

Subject to FA Cup results, Thamesmead welcome Waltham Forest to Bayliss Avenue for a league game next Tuesday evening.

The Ilford based side climbed into second place in the Ryman League Division One North table with a 3-1 home win over fellow highflyers Chatham Town last night.

McMahon went to watch the game and with his side presently in fifth place with 15 points from nine games, a good game is in prospect.

McMahon said: “We’ve gone on a good run.  We’ve put a decent run together, had some excellent results and had we won on Tuesday night instead of a draw it would have been seven straight wins.

“Obviously we had a bad finish to the season last year but in pre-season I knew I had a decent squad.  Even at the start of the season, even when we lost, our performances were better.

“It’s still early days’, you only have to put a few wins together.  Our league is very, very tight and hopefully we can carry on what we’re doing.

“I went to watch them against Chatham last night.  I’ve seen them a couple of times.  They’re very good going forward but they do give you a chance going the other way, but if we carry on playing like we have in the league we’ve got a very good chance.”

Meanwhile, McMahon revealed former Margate midfielder Dean Standen is likely to miss his return to Hartsdown Park as he has been ruled out with an ankle injury and summer signing Richard Butler goes under the knife for a cartildge operation next week.

But defender Lewis Tozer (ankle) and midfielder Danny Penny (hamstring) could feature.

McMahon said: “They’re big players for us.  We have to go into Saturday’s game and go into Tuesday’s game with a full squad, otherwise we’ll get beat."

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

Margate  v  Thamesmead Town
FA Cup with Budweiser Second Qualifying Round
Saturday 1^st October 2011
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Hartsdown Park, Hartsdown Road, Margate, Kent CT9 5QZ