Tunbridge Wells boss Martin Larkin hails his FA Cup heroes

Sunday 29th August 2010

TUNBRIDGE WELLS boss Martin Larkin says his side are more than capable of winning their FA Cup replay at Dulwich Hamlet on Tuesday night, writes Stephen McCartney.

In what was an enthralling FA Cup Preliminary Round tie at Culverden Stadium yesterday, Keelan Mooney pounced to give the Kent League side the lead inside the opening minute.

But their more illustrious Ryman League Division One South opponents went in at the break in the box seat as Sulaiman Bangura, Sol Pinnock and Jason Pinnock beat Slovakian goalkeeper Michel Czanner to stun the Kent side.

But the hosts fought back and scored twice late on, through Andy McMath and battering ram substitute Benji Agana, who scored a dramatic 94th minute, last-gasp equaliser.

“I’m very happy, obviously it could’ve gone one or two ways at 3-1 and we could’ve folded, but we didn’t,” a proud Larkin told www.kentishfootball.co.uk.

“We saw it out until half-time and second half, to be honest, we had the whole game. We played very, very well. Andy McMath got more and more of the game, Keelan Mooney was very good up front and we probably deserved a draw to be honest.”

Reflecting on the key moments, Larkin said: “We scored after 35 seconds pretty much. They made a mistake at the back and Keelan Mooney pounced on it and put the ball away and then very unlike us we conceded two goals from set-pieces after three and ten minutes I think it was, which is very unlike us as we’re very good at that.

“Then we had a good 20 minutes of the game where we controlled it and they scored their third probably against the run of play and we dropped off a little bit after that and we done well to get into half-time as it was.

“Second half we played very well. Don’t get me wrong, Dulwich are an incredible team going forward. Their six going forward, midfielder and two strikers were the best our fans have seen at our ground for a very long time. They’ve got some very good players and they were dangerous every time they got forward but Scott Whibley and Perry Spackman were superb at centre half and Alex Rich and Jason Bourne did very well at full-back as well.

“We asked them to relax and enjoy it. There was no pressure as there were no league points at stake.”

Larkin throw on Sevenoaks based strong target man Agana late on and he was the hero as he grabbed a last-gasp equaliser.

“He came on with ten minutes to go to get some match fitness and see if we can spark something up front because he is a presence,” said Larkin.

“It was a corner from the left hand side into the box and he was there three yards out with his back to goal and he managed to volley it into the corner - it was a very good finish.

“When you score a late goal like that it’s always good. It was the 94th minute when Benji scored and just 30 seconds after that the referee blew the whistle.

“We’re very aware that technically they’re a much a better side than us with the quality they’ve got but we competed don the day and we thoroughly deserved it.”

Looking forward to the replay at Champion Hill on Tuesday night, Larkin insists his side can replicate their heroics at Culverden Stadium and cause a giant killing.

“The pitch will be exceptional up there and we’ll enjoy playing on that,” said Larkin.

“We’re not an unknown to them anymore so they know what we are and who we are and how we play so they’ll probably address that a little bit.

“At the same time there were very long periods of the game where we were the better side so we need to go out and do exactly the same thing to start with, with our pressing and making sure they can’t play and if we do that and take our chances again there’s no reason why we can’t have a very good game.”

“The lads are very buoyant at the same time very disappointed - as we should be - but we’re happy.

“At the end of the day we haven’t got medals out of it, we haven’t beaten them or haven’t won a Cup or anything, so you need to put it into perspective, but at the same time we’ve got to enjoy the fact that we’ve come back from two goals down against a Ryman team and got a result. The fans can have a nice day out on Tuesday night.”

When asked if his side can knock the south Londoners out of the FA Cup at the second attempt, Larkin replied, “I don’t see why not because we scored three goals against them. We conceded three that we shouldn’t have.

“There’s no reason why we can’t but we need to understand they are an excellent team going forward and we’ll need to respect that and do the right things in the right areas and if we can do that and have a bit of luck you need in the FA Cup, then I can’t see why not.”

Meanwhile, Dulwich Hamlet have confirmed that Martin Eede (who arrived in the summer following quitting his role as chairman at landlords Fisher) has left the club to join Ryman Premier League side Croydon Athletic (although his role at Mayfield Road has not been confirmed), who have hit the national headlines this weekend for all the wrong reasons.

A club statement issued on it’s official website today said: “Croydon Athletic Football Club were both devastated and appalled to hear of the alledged match-fixing of international cricket matches by its owner Mazhar Majeed.

“We await the guidance of the Ryman League in the next few weeks. At this moment in time our match against Carshalton Athletic is still scheduled to take place and we hope as many as possible will come along and get behind the team. Any further news will be posted as soon as it becomes available.”

Visit Tunbridge Wells’ website: www.tunbridgewellsfc.co.uk

Dulwich Hamlet v Tunbridge Wells

FA Cup (Sponsored by E.ON) Preliminary Round Replay

Tuesday 31st August 2010

Kick Off 7:45pm

At Champion Hill Stadium, Dog Kennel Hill, Edgar Kail Way, East Dulwich, London SE22 8BD