Kentish Football 
The table doesn't lie - we haven't equipped ourselves well at times, admits Deres boss Micky Collins
Monday 09th January 2012
ERITH & BELVEDERE manager Micky Collins admits their league campaign has been indifferent - and that he has been forced to re-jig his squad owing to budget restrictions.
The Deres currently sit in sixth-place in the Kent Hurlimann Football League table with 29 points from 17 games and with the Park View Road outfit eighteen points adrift of leaders Herne Bay the board have decided to reduce the playing budget.
Reflecting on the win at Greatness Park, which saw former Tonbridge Angels fans’ favourite Ray Powell come off the bench in the second half, Collins said, “Tough game. We were down to ten men (when Karl Knight picked up two yellow cards), quite a poor decision then we got back to 2-1 up with another really poor decision that was a penalty that I don’t think never was.
“Then we stuck to our game and a system we wanted to play.
“Second half we came out and managed to nick one on the break to make it 3-1 and then Sevenoaks scored at the end.
“All in all with the squad I’ve got at the moment and the situation on the day, a good result. I’m pleased with the three points.”
With thirteen league games remaining, Collins reflected on the campaign so far, saying it’s been “indifferent.”
Hadlow-based Collins said: “We had a good start to the season, thought we got off really well and then we’ve dropped silly points at places. There’s a lot to play for but chasing Herne Bay is a massive, massive ask now.
“As long as we improve on last year’s finishing position we’ll be happy with that, but we can make excuses all day long, injuries at wrong times, suspensions etc but it’s disappointing that we’ve had a little run through December when we haven’t picked up any points – to be fair we haven’t played well enough!”
But it’s Cup football that has brought joy to the Blue and White half of Park View Road as the club are still involved in three Cup competitions.
Collins takes his side to league leaders Herne Bay to contest the Macron Kent League Cup Quarter-Final on Wednesday night.
Looking forward to the First Leg, against the back-to-back winners, Collins said: “Very tough game. You know as well as anybody most of the games in the Kent League, nearly all of them, are all tough games. People who turn up and play well are going to look hard to beat.
“Sevenoaks have gone down there in the Kent Senior Trophy and got a result and we’ll look to come away with something. We want to come back to Park View and be in the tie. We don’t want to be out of the tie.
“We’ve got a couple of signings who are cup-tied. We’ve picked up a couple of knocks but we won’t be at full-strength on Wednesday but we’ll give a good account of ourselves and hopefully come back in a couple of weeks and have something to play for.”
Meanwhile, Cray Valley (Paper Mills), who Erith & Belvedere knocked out of the London Senior Cup in November, visit Park View Road on Saturday for a place in the semi-finals of the Umbro Kent Senior Trophy up for grabs.
“We’ve got one eye on that as well and at the moment we’ve got budget restrictions so we had to whittle the squad down,” explained Collins.
“We have to be careful, we’ve lost six players over the last few weeks and we’ve still got that Cup. We’re still in the London Senior Cup when we’ve got a tie away at Dulwich Hamlet, so we’re trying to keep one eye on our league position and full strength in other competitions.
“The one good thing is we’re still in three Cup competitions so we’ve got something to play for, which is quite good in mid-January.”
Collins added: “We haven’t performed as well as we wanted to in the league. League tables don’t like and we haven’t equipped ourselves well at times and it’s been disappointing, so it’s down to us now to get some form, win some games and get to a final to end the season on a bit of a high.
“We went into the season full of promise and it just hasn’t realised that yet and we have to try and do the best we can but we are still in three cups in January, which is a plus.”
When asked about his departed stars, Collins said: “Marcus Cassius has gone out on loan to Chipstead in Ryman South. That was a budget restraint, we had to make that happen. It’s a good move for Marcus. It’s a level higher and he deserves to be playing higher, the kid, which is excellent and I’ve been told he’s been doing well.
“Adam Gross has gone and gone higher and has gone to Leatherhead (in the Ryman Premier) and Adam is a great player and can always play higher. His brother Paul has gone and I don’t know where he’s gone yet. Marcus Perona has gone to Erith Town. James Evans has left us a well. I don’t know where he’s gone.
“There’s a few ones that’s come in so we’re trying to re-strengthen. It’s strange to come to January and we’re in a transition again but that’s up to us to not let the season peter out.”
Collins, 41, admitted he is still feeling the strain after playing in last Friday’s Charity game between Elite Soccer FA coaches and an Ex Pro/Celebrity Side in Maidstone.
Collins said: “I still can’t walk! I played for an hour (in the 3-2 win) and it was fantastic. I think they raised £3,000 for Demelza and it was great to catch up with some old friends of mine.
“We all said those nights are great as no-one loses. The charity gets the money, which is fantastic and the level of support was great. The coaches who put it on, it was very well run and they’re (Soccer Elite FA) doing another one in the summer for everyone to support.
“There was an awful lot of people watching. For us old boys it was great to catch up with loads of old stories – it’s just a shame we can’t walk for three days!”
Visit Erith & Belvedere’s website: www.erithandbelvederefc.co.uk
Herne Bay v Erith & Belvedere
Macron Kent League Cup Quarter-Final First Leg
Wednesday 11th January 2012
Kick Off 7:45pm
At Winch’s Field, Stanley Gardens, Herne Bay, Kent CT6 5SG
Red Dragon I.T. Ltd