We're relishing playing two games a week, says Ward

Tuesday 12th January 2010

RAMSGATE boss Jim Ward insists his side will be fighting fit when they resume their push towards the Ryman League Division One South play-off’s, writes Stephen McCartney.

The current cold snap has not prevented Ward’s men from keeping fit and as www.kentishfootball.co.uk spoke to the Scotsman his side were inside the clubhouse working on their fitness ahead of Saturday’s scheduled trip to Dulwich Hamlet.

“We’ve been very fortunate,” said Ward, who hopes to resume playing golf tomorrow. “We’ve been able to mix our training up. We’ve actually trained in the clubhouse because the weather was so bad. We’ve trained on the all-weather pitch, which was excellent. We’ve hired a hall for indoor eight-a-side football.

“We’ve mixed everything up and the lads, as I speak now, are doing circuit training in the clubhouse and we can’t wait to kick a ball.

“We’ve done everything to keep ourselves ticking over. We feel we’ve done everything we possibly can. We’ve done everything for the boys, they’ve told me they’re all raring to go Saturday.”

All games scheduled for Kent at the weekend, tonight and tomorrow have all been frozen off and Dulwich Hamlet’s Champion Hill Stadium was also frozen off tonight as Fisher’s London Senior Cup tie against Haringey Borough was postponed for an EIGHTH time.

If Saturday’s game does go ahead, both sides go into it with two wins and a draw from their last three games, but both teams haven’t played in January due to the wintry blast.

Ramsgate are presently sitting in seventh place in the table, with a record of nine wins and five draws from 20 league outings, whilst Gavin Rose’s side are down in fourteenth place with six fewer points.

“It’s the same as every game in this division,” Ward said. “If you don’t give other teams respect and you don’t get in amongst them, you’ll get beat.

“If you switch off for a minute, they’ve got players capable of doing you harm, and likewise from them to us.”

Ward insisted that his side are looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.

He said: “No excuses, we’ve got no injuries or suspensions, everyone will be the same. I think we’ll be alright.

“I think we’ll look forward to the remaining part of the season. We’re just about halfway, if we keep up our form that we kept in the second quarter of the first part of the league (campaign) we’ll be ok.

“But we’ve got to keep it up. We’ve got a nice, tight, little squad here, a lot of young lads that have been given an opportunity again at Ramsgate, so it’s positive.”

When asked about the possibility of playing two games per week during the last remaining fifteen weeks of the season, Ward replied, “When you’re playing well, it’s a great thing, Saturday and Tuesday. When you’re playing well, when you’re on a good run of form, you can’t wait for the games to come. You can’t wait.

“If we can get ourselves back to where we left off, I see no reason why we can’t.

“We’re relishing playing Saturday and Tuesdays. We’ve got a squad of eighteen players, I’ve got not qualms about playing any of them. They’re all good enough to play in this division.”

Ward is confident that his side can extend their season by one week and compete for a place back into the Ryman Premier League, via the end of season play-off lottery.

“That’s the target,” he said. “Look, we had a terrible start to the season, all these new players. It took me a while to sort out, let a few go, brought a couple in, got them all gelling at last a few weeks ago.

“Can we sustain that? I believe that we can! We’ve got a good team down here, it’s a bit like the old days of three or four years ago when everyone was pulling together.

“I’ve got a cracking set of lads, everybody trains, everybody has a good time. We’ve always had that at Ramsgate. Ask any player that has been here and left. They always say it’s a club that they love. There’s been a lot of good players that have left this club in the last five years.”

Visit Ramsgate’s website: www.ramsgate-fc.co.uk

Dulwich Hamlet v Ramsgate

Ryman League Division One South

Saturday 16th January 2010

Kick Off 3:00pm

At Champion Hill Stadium, Edgar Kail Way, Dog Kennel Hill, East Dulwich, London SE22 8BD