We have to win our battles to beat Newcastle Benfield, says Herne Bay boss Simon Halsey

HERNE BAY boss Simon Halsey says his players must win their individual battles if they are to progress to the LAST SIXTEEN of The FA Carlsberg Vase on Saturday.


The Kent League leaders, who are unbeaten in eighteen league games and fourteen points clear of second-placed Erith Town, are on course for promotion into the Ryman League at the end of the season, and they travel to the North-East to play Northern League outfit Newcastle Benfield in the Fourth Round of the prestigious national competition.

The hosts go into the game having suffered eight of their fifteen league games on home soil – and Halsey is confident that his free-flowing footballing side can produce the goods to keep their realistic Wembley dreams alive.

“That’s what we train for and get ready for,” said Halsey.

“I fancy myself every week when I go into any game of football to be honest.  We’ll go up there to win the game.  We’re going up there with nothing but a win and we have to go for it. 

“I don’t want it going to (a replay) the following Saturday to eat up another game when we should be playing a league game.  I don’t want the Vase to hamper our league progress.

“I’m confident of going up there to try to win the game outright.”

Halsey has done his homework on Newcastle Benfield.

He said: “Yes, I know enough about them but without being cocky, we’re just confident in ourselves.  They really have to worry about us as our record at the moment is untouchable.  I’m just going up there to set my side out to have a good go at them.

“We’re travelling up Friday night and Saturday morning in the hotel, hopefully they can provide us with a conference room and we’ll have a team brief before we travel on the coach and just try to get through to the players that last season we played Whitley Bay down at our place and dominated the game and they had the mental strength and will to see the game through to the 92^nd minute when they beat us.”

When asked what he is expecting, the Herne Bay boss replied, “They’re going to be strong.  It’s going to be cold.  They’re going to be tough and very physical.  We have to match them in every part of the game and then let our football do the talking after that really.

“The Northern League is a big league and they’re going to be strong and powerful and we just have to match them in every department.  We know we’re a  good, footballing side that we can play well but if we don’t win the battle first and roll our sleeves up, we won’t come away with what we want so that’s what I’ll be trying to get through to my players.”

Former Herne Bay manager, Tommy Sampson, who guided Kent League rivals Deal Town to FA Vase glory underneath the iconic Wembley Twin Towers in 2000, will offer the current crop of Bay players one last piece of inspiration before kick-off on Saturday.

Halsey revealed: “Tommy came to one of our home games two weeks ago and he’s given me a letter that’s signed and sealed and said it must not be opened until we get in the changing room at the ground.

“I’m hoping once I’ve done my bit of managerial talk, an inspirational motivation, I’ll read this letter to my lads.  He’s been there and knows what it’s about.  I know Tommy, I’m hoping he’s put in some good words there and I hope it pushes my players a little bit more.”

When asked whether Herne Bay can go all the way to Wembley to replicate Deal Town’s heroics, Halsey replied, “I’m not going to tempt any fate or anything, but I seriously believe we can travel 620 odd miles round trip and get a result.

“I think there’s a belief right through the players that it (reaching the Wembley final) can be possible – but that won’t come until after we do the business on Saturday.

“We will touch on it a little bit with the lads but first and foremost we have to go up there and win the game on Saturday – but we know it’s going to be tough!”

Halsey added: “If we can get through this 600 round trip and get a result, last sixteen you’ve got to start believing it could be possible.  I won’t be doing that until this round is over and done with.

“What will I need from them? Everything!  To be able to play their football and be able to roll their sleeves up and dig in.  It’s going to be tough up there.  That’s what they’ve got to do.

“Our preparation is fully focused on the travelling aspect of it.   The lads are fully focused, they know they’re staying up there and they can enjoy themselves on Saturday night in Newcastle but on Friday night it’s business as usual in the hotel in their rooms, playing on their playstations or whatever they can do in their rooms, get something to eat.  The only difference is they’ll be getting up on Saturday morning not in their own homes, which will be difficult.

“This is why I do it, to experience all of these bits.  My lads are young and they’ve never travelled this far for a game of football before so it’s all new for them. 

“I want to carry on after this round to be honest.”

Meanwhile, Herne Bay’s Kent League rivals, Tunbridge Wells, are also in FA Carlsberg Vase action on Saturday and welcome United Counties League outfit St Ives Town (who hail from Cambridgeshire) to Culverden Stadium.

Halsey said: “I wish Martin (Larkin) and Bradley (Sandeman) and all the players, supporters and committee of Tunbridge Wells Football Club all the best in their round.

“I hope we both get through and we don’t draw each other in the last sixteen.

“Martin is the same as me. He’ll organise his team, he’s preparing for the game and no disrespect to the other Kent League clubs, we enjoy playing them, but I don’t want to be playing Kent League clubs.  I want to be playing people I don’t know about.”

Visit Herne Bay’s website: www.hernebayfc.net  

Newcastle Benfield  v  Herne Bay
The FA Carlsberg Vase Fourth Round
Saturday 21^st January 2012
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Sam Smith’s Park, Benfield Road, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne & Wear NE6 4NU