We want to continue that winning mentality, says Hythe Town boss Scott Porter

HYTHE TOWN boss Scott Porter says he has got his side even stronger as he bids to bring more silverware to Reachfields Stadium.

The 33-year-old led the club to a respectable eighth-place in their inaugural Ryman League Division One South campaign – and to cap it off they stunned higher-league outfits Ebbsfleet United, Dover Athletic and Dartford to win the Kent Senior Cup for the first time in the club’s history.

Porter says he has got his squad fit during pre-season and he just cannot wait for their trip to Walton Casuals on Saturday.

“It’s gone well to be fair. We had a mixture of tough games and a mixture of mediocre games. We played Hastings, Eastbourne Borough and Aveley, which were tough, but we’ve had teams in the Invicta League – people were trying to make a scalp playing a bigger side.

“The boys are fit and playing with a lot of confidence.  They’re enjoying it and the new lads’ have settled in well. We’ve scored a few goals and that breads confidence and hopefully we can take that on to Saturday.”

Porter is looking forward to his side’s opening game beside the banks of the River Thames at the Waterside Stadium against Walton Casuals.

He said: “Everyone’s had enough of pre-season games, at the end of it people get bored with the amount of subs that you make and the non- competitiveness with the subs and the teams you play.

“We’re buzzing. The boys have worked hard. We’ll work on set-pieces tonight and hopefully we can go and get off to a good start on Saturday.”

Porter has learnt that his side must get off to a better start this time around if they are to challenge for a play-off place.

He said: “We learnt from last year. Every game in Ryman South is a tough game and it doesn’t matter whether the teams are up at the top or at the bottom.

“You’ve got to be mentally right for the games every week. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing.

“Something that we did do last year, was we got off to a bad start. Teams hit us hard when we made mistakes.  That’s why we were chasing the pack all season but we finished well last year and we want to continue that with the boys that we’ve brought in.

“We need to be mentally strong and get off to a good start and hopefully we can do that on Saturday but it will be tough.  The boys have to turn up with the right attitude and continue with the hard work we’ve done over the last seven games in pre-season.”

Hythe Town welcome rivals Herne Bay to Reachfields Stadium next Tuesday and Porter is looking forward to facing Simon Halsey’s side again.

“Any Kent derby is good whether it’s Herne Bay, Sittingbourne or Folkestone, all the Kent sides, especially a night time game,” said Porter.

“Hopefully there will be a decent crowd there as it’s our first home game of the season.

“It will be tough.  They’ve chopped and changed and some have gone and some have come in.

“We’ve had a year’s experience and they’ll come into it with no pressure. It will be good to have a Kent derby straight away at home.

“You have to be mentally strong at every game and have your mind set eight and if you make mistakes at that level, which we found as we did early doors, we got punished and in the Kent League you don’t get punished so much.

“You learn a lot that different teams set up differently.  They don’t give up and a lot of teams are really strong.

“We’re quite a strong side but we have to be a lot more stronger this year. Teams will know about us more so we’ve worked on our strength work, a lot of shirt and sharp work, so the boys are fit.

“The boys will be fit enough and we’ll be working all the way until January, which we’ve done every year. We need to up our performances 10-15% to where we want to be because teams know about us now.”

When asked about his aspirations for the season ahead, Porter replied, “We just want to go better than last year. I’m not going to put pressure on my lads. We finished eighth last year so we want to better ourselves. We want to be in the pack from the start and that’s why we have to get off to a good start and continue where we left off last year.

“We want to win trophies every year and they bring good times and you get your rewards with the hard work that you do all the way through the season.

“We want to continue that winning mentality.  Hopefully we can get something this year.”

Visit Hythe Town’s website: www.hythetownfc.co.uk

Walton Casuals  v  Hythe Town
Ryman League Division One South
Saturday 18^th August 2012
Kick off 3:00pm
at Waterside Stadium, Waterside Drive, Walton on Thames, Surrey KT12 2KP