We must bounce back, says play-off chasing Hume

LLOYD HUME has told his Maidstone United side that they must forget about their FA Cup disappointment and get their league campaign back on track, writes Stephen McCartney.

It’s always tough on non-league sides when they get knocked out of the FA Cup at the final qualifying round stage as they are forgotten about by the national media.

The brave Stones just found Blue Square South leaders AFC Wimbledon just too good at Bourne Park yesterday, going down to Sam Hatton’s first half strike, the only time that their opponents got in behind a solid, hard-working Stones’ back four.

Whilst AFC Wimbledon can now look forward to hosting unbeaten Coca-Cola League Two leaders Wycombe Wanderers in the first round proper in thirteen days time, Hume has told his side to concentrate on their bread and butter.

Hume wants a positive reaction from his troops for Tuesday night’s Ryman Premier League trip to fifth-bottom Kent rivals Margate at Hartsdown Park.

The Stones are ninth in the Ryman Premier League table with 20 points from 12 games - 13 points behind league leaders Dover Athletic.

“We’ve got a game on Tuesday night at Margate, which is our bread and butter and we made the players very aware of that,” Hume told www.kentishfootball.co.uk following yesterday’s FA Cup exit in front of a record crowd of 1,719 at Bourne Park.

“We made a good account of ourselves today but really and truly we’re back down to earth with a game at Margate, which is our bread and butter.

“We need to go down there and get three points. That has to be our priority because what we don’t want to do and it happens so often in non-league, the club’s that have the a decent run in the FA Cup or FA Trophy pull out of that and suffer for a few weeks with results and we can’t afford that to happen.

“We have to make sure we keep up with the leading pack and we chase Dover down because that’s important for us.

“We’ve got enough quality and enough about us to make sure we get into the play-off’s.”

Visit Margate’s website: www.margate-fc.com

Visit Maidstone United’s website: www.maidstoneunited.co.uk

Margate v Maidstone United
Ryman Premier League
Tuesday 28^th October 2008
Kick Off 7:45pm
At Hartsdown Park, Hartsdown Road, Margate, Kent CT9 5QZ