We should beat Hollands & Blair comfortably, says confident Beckenham coach Jason Clews

BECKENHAM TOWN coach Jason Clews says he is confident of progressing into the semi-finals of the Umbro Kent Senior Trophy on Saturday.


They travel to Kent Invicta League outfit Hollands & Blair with a home tie against Erith & Belvedere or Cray Valley (Paper Mills) awaiting the winner in the semi-finals.

Hollands & Blair, who are managed by Paul Piggott, go into the clash sitting in third-place in the Kent Invicta League table with Beckenham Town in fourth in the league above.

Beckenham Town, meanwhile, exited the London Senior Cup last night, as Ryman Leaguers Thamesmead Town scored twice in extra time to book a trip to Metropolitan Police in the last sixteen.

But Beckenham enjoyed plenty of possession in a bruising encounter at Eden Park Avenue, but Keith McMahon’s side progressed courtesy of a Richard Butler header and Theo Fairweather-Johnson’s fourteenth goal of the season inside extra time.

Looking ahead to their trip to Gillingham to face Blair, Clews said: “I’ve been told they’re a tight unit and they work hard.  I’ve never seen them play personally so it’s somewhere different for me to go and watch.

“I think if we play like we did last night for the first 90 minutes, I think we should be alright.  We should win comfortably.”

Clews hopes the Beckenham players don’t drop their standards against lower-league opposition.

He said: “We do tend to drop to their levels but I think if we go into the game with that mentality of how we played last night over the 90 minutes I think we can turn most teams over who we come up against.

“I think I’m expecting us to win on Saturday.”

Beckenham Town then welcome VCD Athletic in the Quarter-finals of the Macron Kent League Cup next Tuesday, 17 January.

Looking forward to the first leg clash at Eden Park Avenue, Clews said: “We’ve got loads of Cup games coming up.  We could be out of all three but I don’t see that happening with the way we performed last night and in the last couple of games against Fisher and Lordswood.

“We came back from 2-0 down (to win 4-2) at Lordswood last Saturday so there’s a good spirit in the team.

“I can see us going on against Hollands & Blair and obviously getting something against VCD.  It’s over the two legs.  If we go into the first leg and we keep it tight and just get the odd goal, a couple of goals, I think we’ll get through against VCD.”

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

Hollands & Blair  v  Beckenham Town
Umbro Kent Senior Trophy Quarter-Final
Saturday 14^th January 2012
Kick Off 1:30pm
at Star Meadow Sports Club, Darland Avenue, Gillingham, Kent ME7 3AN