We know what we have to do to stay up, says Munday

Wednesday 25th November 2009

WHITSTABLE TOWN manager Mark Munday says he was relieved when his side collected their first win since August when Eastbourne Town were beaten last night, writes Stephen McCartney.

The struggling Oystermen had started their season well with wins over Burgess Hill Town and Merstham in their opening three games to the season, but a depressing run of picking up just one point from their next 12 games left the club sitting in a precarious position at the foot of the Ryman League Division One South table.

But last night’s last-gasp 1-0 home win over fellow strugglers Eastbourne Town lifted the gloom and Munday’s men can actually climb off the foot of the table with a home win over fellow strugglers Ashford Town on Saturday.

The goalscorer of Whitstable’s ninth league goal of the season, following Gareth Cornhill’s late free-kick, was keenly contested.

“It definitely came off my head,” skipper Sam Denly told www.whitstabletownfc.co.uk last night. “Whisk (Dan Whisker) reckons he scored it, but it was definitely my goal!”

But Munday doesn’t care who applied the decisive touch to seal a morale-boosting victory, which sets them up nicely for the double header (they travel to Homelands next Wednesday) against third-from-bottom Ashford Town.

“It was a relief, no more than we deserved,” Munday told www.kentishfootball.co.uk today.

“The last three or four weeks we’ve done everything but win games and last night we got that little break that we needed, after having missed, it must have been four or five gilt-edged chances.

“But again we could have put the game beyond doubt early in the first half so I’m absolutely relieved that we got the win, no more than we deserved.

“The last three weeks have been very important. Against Walton Casuals and against Horsham YMCA we did everything but win the game. We did everything than put the ball in the back of the net.

“The effort, the application and people putting their bodies on the line to try and get a win and turn around the situation I couldn’t fault any of them.

Between four to six points from Steve Lovell’s side would help Whitstable Town’s fight against relegation immensely.

“It’s a massive week as we know Ashford are right around us and we’ve got six points up for grabs and myself and Steve will be gunning for them points,” said Munday.

“If we have the same application and our same effort and all round performance, we give ourselves an opportunity to take some points.”

“We know what personnel they’ve got and we know what they’ve got so they’ll be no surprises there and it’s a case who converts their chances on the day and who works hard will generally win a football match.

“We’ll approach it like we have in the past month with full of confidence as our performances have merited that.

“We’d still be mindful that we still need to pick up results against these sides.”

Whitstable ended a run of four games without scoring last night, although scoring only nine goals in 16 league games is concerning Munday.

“Converting them yes, the amount of chances we’re creating I can see us up with the best of them. It’s just not happening in front of goal. We’ve had lots and lots of these chances.”

He added: “The main thing was the three points. I would have accepted a very below par performance for three points, we’ve been giving above average performances and getting nothing out of it.”

“Yesterday we had both, we don’t really well and got the result we deserved. We haven’t cracked it, it’s not job done, it’s now the start of something, hopefully a little spark to spur us on in that respect.

“It’s a testament to the chaps that we stuck out there and the management team that I’ve got behind me and the committee that we’ve stuck at it and stuck by me.

Munday admitted that steering the club away from the drop zone is a task that he wants to achieve and ask supporters for backing.

He said: “It was my aim to get as good as a start as possible. If we remember in the not so distant memory that we won our first two out of three games as we were looking to be on track for a decent start. That hasn’t transpired but we’re looking to pick up points every other game.

“A point a game will probably put us near survival this year. If we can get anywhere near the points tally we had last year (50) then that’s absolutely fine.

“We were looking in the programme and looking at the statistics last year. In the end of January last year Whitstable were in the bottom two.

“People seem to have very short memories, expecting us to be competing at the different end of the league this year.

“I’m not talking about anyone associated with the club but a few vocal supporters, who haven’t been positive over the last few weeks.

“A reality check is needed. We know the job that we’ve got to keep in this league.”

Dan Tanner, meanwhile, remains on the sidelines.

www.kentishfootball.co.uk will be covering this game

Visit Whitstable Town’s website: www.whitstabletownfc.co.uk

Visit Ashford Town’s website: www.ashfordtownfc.co.uk

Whitstable Town v Ashford Town

Ryman League Division One South

Saturday 28th November 2009

Kick Off 3:00pm

At The Belmont, Belmont Road, Whitstable, Kent CT5 1QJ