We're having to catch up, admits concerned Canterbury City boss Ade Gower

Wednesday 15th January 2014

CANTERBURY CITY manager Ade Gower says he feels concerned about the club’s fixture backlog.

The club are in the bottom three in the Southern Counties East Football League table having played thirteen games, the least of the seventeen sides.
A solution could be to play more midweek games during the earlier part of the season, so that all club’s are halfway through their campaign come Christmas.

Canterbury City went down to a 3-2 defeat at Fisher on Monday in the Quarter-Finals of the League Cup and take them back to Herne Bay’s Winch’s Field next Wednesday for the Second Leg.

But Gower, 46, revealed at Champion Hill that he doesn’t expect to play a home game for the rest of the month due to the pitch being waterlogged.

He said: “We are a litlte bit concerned, as I said in the dressing room, we’re going to be having two games a week from now until the end of the season.

“The trouble is Herne Bay at Winch’s Field is still really, really wet and we groundshare with them. It’s their ground so they take priority, Ryman League football takes priority.

“I’ve spoken to the groundsman and he said we won’t be playing on it this month.”

Gower said he has bolstered his squad to cope with the extra midweek games.

He said: “We’ve got contingencies, we’ve got two or three other lads signed who can play midweek, so I think we’ll be alright. We’re having to catch up.”

Canterbury City are ten points adrift of ninth-placed Greenwich Borough and when asked his aspirations for the rest of the season, Gower said: “Just to finish as high up as we can. I think we finished ninth last season, tenth the seson before and if we can do better, maybe if we can get up to eighth or something like that.

“We’re in a little mini-league with some teams llike Fisher, Beckenham and Deal around us, but as long as we mainly beat Deal. If we can do eighth, that will be great.”

Gower takes his side to Beckenham Town on Saturday.

Jason Huntley’s side are having a disappointing league campaign this term and lie in eleventh-place in the table with five wins and three draws from seventeen league games.

Becks thrashed Fisher 5-0 at Champion Hill last weekend and have re-signed twins Gary and Danny Gorman from Haart of Kent County League Premier Division side Metrogas.

Looking ahead to the trip to Eden Park Avenue, Gower said: “Again, we’re quite confident. On our day we’re not worried about anyone. We have a full team out. We’re going to train again this week on Thursday. We don’t worry about anyone, Ashford, Tunbridge Wells, Beckenham. We’re not fussed about them.”

Meanwhile, Beckenham Town’s Surrey Senior Cup exit at the hands to Frimley Green on Tuesday night came at a cost.

Becks crashed out 6-3 at Eden Park Avenue, but Jamie Turner sustained a serious hip injury towards the end of the match, which needed him to be taken to hospital and seems likely to need an operation at Kings College Hospital this morning. It is unlikely that he will play again this season.

Visit Beckenham Town’s website: www.beckenhamtownfc.co.uk

Visit Canterbury City’s website: www.canterburycityfc.com

Beckenham Town v Canterbury City
Southern Counties East Football League
Saturday 18 January 2014
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Eden Park Avenue, Beckenham, Kent BR3 3JL