We need to get back to winning ways, says Thamesmead Town boss Keith McMahon

McMahon revealed last night that their redevelopment of Bayliss Avenue is expected to be completed in time of their game against Great Wakering Rovers on 24 March 2012 – only three years’ overdue!

He said: “We had a meeting on Monday night, it’s going along still.  They gave us a date, hopefully of the Great Wakering game on March 24 when EVERYTHING will be completed.  A month before we should be inside the building.  It doesn’t look it!

“The 3G pitch is done.  Just a lot of groundwork, which they are doing and all scaffolding has gone up.  We just have to wait and see.

“I think an extra month ain’t going to bother us now – it’s been three years’ over. 

“We just want to hurry up and get out of the (current) building and the mess and see how we go from there.

“Hopefully by the end of the year the club will be in there and we can all do what we want to do.  It’s been hard work.  I’ve been doing it for six years’.  I’ve had enough!  It’s time for someone else to take over the reigns over (the redevelopment).

Thamesmead booked their place in the last sixteen of the London Senior Cup last night, needing extra time to beat Kent Hurlimann League outfit Beckenham Town 2-0.

Richard Butler, who has only just recently fought back from a knee injury, headed home in the 100^th minute to break the stalemate, before leading scorer, Theo Fairweather-Johnson scored his fourteenth goal of the season thirteen minutes later.

They will now travel to Ryman Premier League side Metropolitan Police in the next round and a win at Imber Court will earn a potentially lucrative trip to League Two giants AFC Wimbledon in the quarter-finals.

But McMahon has admitted twice this week that the London Senior Cup is not high on the list of priorities at Bayliss Avenue.

He said: “It does its purpose.  You have to go in it and when you’re in it you want to win every game. Everyone wants to win.

“County Cup games, unfortunately, come in when you’ve always got so many games.  What you don’t want is anyone to get sent-off like (Beckenham striker Alfie Nunn last night) or bookings that get you a suspension or an injury in a game like this.

“It’s not that you treat it (the competition) poorly, you treat it for what it is.  It’s a good, competitive game that you can give youngsters and some reserve players a good run and a few players a rest.

“If you look at my bench, you’ll see the quality of it.  We still had a very strong eleven out there so we took the competition seriously.  We gave Beckenham a lot of respect.  I brought my first team squad apart from four but that’s what the Ryman League’s like. You get so many injuries and suspensions, you’ve got to have a squad of 18-19 and that’s what we’ve got.

“I’ve got a couple of lads in the reserves who I could’ve had a look at last night.  We didn’t and it’s come good for us in the end.”

Thamesmead lie in midtable in the Ryman League Division One North with 35 points from 23 games and they welcome fourth-from-bottom side Cheshunt to Bayliss Avenue on Saturday, before travelling to Suffolk to lock horns with promotion chasing Leiston next Tuesday.

McMahon said: “We should’ve got a win at Maldon (instead of losing 1-0) and we spoke last night about the things that let us down and why we didn’t win on Saturday.

“We need to get back to winning ways.  Some of the lads who had a rest (against Beckenham) can have a run out on Saturday.

“It will be a difficult game for us.  They’re very lively.   We just have to get a win and get three points and get back amongst it (the play-off’s).

“We’ve got a very tough trip to Leiston on Tuesday night, which I think we’re going to leave on Sunday!”

Thamesmead will leave at 4 o’clock on Tuesday afternoon for the game at Victory Road, but McMahon doesn’t mind the long trips.

“Most people would prefer to play than train,” he said.

“We have to go up past Norwich and meet at four o’clock on a Tuesday.  We meant to have played them on a Saturday but we had a good FA Trophy run and we won £11,500 in prize money.  Would I rather have that and not go to Leiston on a Tuesday night?  I think every manager would tell you to get on that coach at four o’clock!

“It’s a big game for us, a midweek game.  It should take us two hours to get up there.  We’re going against the traffic and hopefully when we get there we’ll give a good account of ourselves.

“You want to be in the Ryman League.  The travelling is not an issue.  That’s where we wanted to be in.  That’s what we’re in.  It doesn’t matter where we go.  If we’ve got any ambitions to play Ryman Premier or Conference or any player or manager has ambitions (to do so), you don’t mind where you go as long as you’re in that league.  It doesn’t really bother me where we travel to.”

Visit Thamesmead Town’s website: www.thamesmeadtownfc.co.uk  

Thamesmead Town  v  Cheshunt
Ryman League Division One North
Saturday 14^th January 2012
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Bayliss Avenue, Thamesmead, London SE28 8NJ