NON-LEAGUE NEWS: As the football season enters ‘the business end’, both local clubs are in the mix for play-off places and even have a chance of winning some silverware, as ANDREW SINCLAIR reports
After 15 years without a cup win, Croydon FC have two chances in four days to add a silver lining to their season.
First up for the Trams is this Sunday’s Kent Senior Trophy final with Erith Town.
Erith are 21 places above Croydon in the league, sitting fifth in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division.
With the final to be played at Maidstone United’s Gallagher Stadium, Liam Giles’s men will be hoping to channel some of The Stones’s own giant-killing exploits as they seek to win the Trophy for the first time.
“The mood in the camp this week has been like it has for most of the season – enjoyable,” said Croydon manager Giles. “We have a superb group of men who are a pleasure to manage.”
Leading role: Trams captain Jordan Anderson (left)
Croydon will be without a few key players for Sunday’s game, most notably striker Andy Somo and cup-tied forward Fred Obasa.
Giles, nonetheless, says that he is “chomping at the bit” for the game. “Bringing silverware back to Croydon would be such a surreal thing for me. I’ve gone from playing for them at Under-6s to managing the first team. It would make me immensely proud to bring a trophy back – the supporters deserve something to cheer about as it’s been far too long.”
Then next Wednesday, the Trams go again, travelling to the War Memorial Sports Ground in Carshalton to face Wimbledon Casuals in the London Senior Trophy. On that occasion, it’ll be a role reversal from Sunday’s fixture, with the Trams this time being favourites as the team in a higher division.
Recent form has been good for Giles’s men, who have overcome a slow start to put themselves in the mix for promotion from SCEFL Division 1.
Their most recent result was a 2-0 defeat to bottom-of-the-table Greenways that Giles described as “unacceptable”.
Final run-in: the SCEFL Div 1 table, with Croydon in sixth, withjust three league games to play
Despite that, Giles remains buoyant. He is targeting wins in all three of his side’s final league games – at Croydon Arena against Bridon Ropes, then hosting fourth-placed Larkfield, before travelling to Canterbury on the last day of the league season.
Will they have a Canterbury tale to tell?
“I feel like seven points from the last three games would be enough to secure a play-off place, looking at other fixtures. But nine points is the target.
“If we win our last three, I feel we will take that last play-off spot. Our ambition and priority remains getting back to Step 5, but winning a cup or two would be the cherry on the top for me, the players and all the Croydon fans.”
At the Mayfield Stadium in Thornton Heath, Croydon Athletic’s hopes of cup silverware were extinguished earlier this week with a 3-0 defeat to Farnham in the Surrey Senior Cup quarter-final.
However, six months on from his appointment at the Mayfield Stadium, Jermaine McGlashan has the Rams sitting pretty in fourth place in the Combined Counties Premier Division South, and looking set for the end-of-season play-offs. Tomorrow’s home game against sixth-place Alton should be key in cementing the Rams’ league position.
Riding high: from 17th place in the division in October to fourth now, the Rams have had a string of impressive recent wins
“We came in with the club sitting 17th in the league table and now we’re fourth in a healthy play-off spot,” McGlashan said.
“It’s been challenging at times but this is exactly how we’d have wanted it to go when we were appointed.
“The big success for me has been creating a winning mentality – getting a group together that can compete and, more importantly, re-connect the supporters and local community with the club.”
Since the start of March, McGlashan’s Rams have won five from seven league games, scoring 23 goals along the way.
The flow of goals has been down, in part, to two recent additions: Richard Pingling and Tom Collins. Pingling, a former Croydon FC mainstay, joined after a spell at Dulwich Hamlet, while striker Collins came from Kingstonian.
McGlashan, 35, amassed more than 300 Football League appearances as a winger for Aldershot and Cheltenham, and now dovetails his work with the Rams by being a Player Development Pathway coach at Gillingham.
“The difference between managing and playing is probably the way players are now. They are a bit more precious now, and although it’s good for me to lean on the experiences I had, they are not always relatable to this new breed of athletes.
“I’ve learned how to deal with very different characters. There are players that have played at a really high level before and need to find their feet again. It’s my job to get the best out of these boys, so I’ve had to learn to adapt and concede ground in areas to get the best out of the boys while making sure that they understand how I want to work.
Flying visit: Rams co-owners Danny Young and Wilfried Zaha (pictured centre with goal scorers Collins, Pingling, Pierrick and Amoo) were among the impressed spectators for the 5-1 win at Camberley
“Another thing I’ve found challenging is switching off post-game. I think as a manager it’s important to remain balanced at all times, and throughout my playing career I’d always reflect and over-analyse things that went wrong. However, I think I’ve learned to park things and sleep on them more. That’s something I’ve got better at and am continuing to learn.”
The Rams have six league matches to go, with games in hand on Jersey Bulls and Knaphill above them. It’s Jersey that McGlashan is keen to avoid in the play-off semis.
“I feel we need to win two, maybe three more. Two of the games left are six-pointers against teams in and around us, so we’re looking to hopefully catch Jersey to avoid that away draw. That said, finishing in the top five is still a massive achievement.”
On his new recruits, McGlashan said: “Richard and Tom have given us a massive boost. Not just with the goals they’ve added, but because of the characters they are for the changing room.
“They both hit the ground running, and both came in at a time when we needed to shake things up. They’ve both made a difference already, and it’s a credit to the owners for allowing us to affect that change.”
Athletic did lose their opening game of the month to their Mayfield tenants, Balham, who recently announced that their ground share agreement will be over at the end of this season.
Balham could yet prove a thorn in the side of their current hosts though, as they’re within two places and one point of a play-off spot with three games left to play. A solid side in good form, it wouldn’t be a shock to see them make a march on the sides around them as the campaign draws to its conclusion.
Croydon FC
Sun Apr 14: Kent Senior Trophy Final v Erith Town (Maidstone)
Wed Apr 17: London Senior Trophy Final v Wimbledon Casuals (Carshalton)
Sat Apr 20: SCEFL Div 1 v Bridon Ropes (H)
Wed Apr 24: SCEFL Div 1 v Larkfield and New Hythe (H)
Sat Apr 27: SCEFL Div 1 v Canterbury C (A)
Croydon Athletic
Tomorrow: Combined Counties Prem Div S v Alton (H)
Tue Apr 16: Combined Counties Prem Div S v Tadley Calleva (A)
Sat Apr 20: Combined Counties Prem Div S v Spelthorne Sports (H)
Tue Apr 23: Combined Counties Prem Div S v Farnham T (H)
Thu Apr 25: Combined Counties Prem Div S v Horley T (A)
Sat Apr 27: Combined Counties Prem Div S v Abbey R (A)
Read more: How Stormzy’s football dream is becoming a Mayfield reality
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