Sittingbourne look to continue their recent love affair with the ISUZU FA Trophy this weekend as they welcome Hashtag United to the Staxson Stadium, Woodstock in this season’s Third Qualifying Round at the end of an historic week for the Brickies. 

Ryan Maxwell and his squad made their first ever trip to the Jersey Bulls on Tuesday and were unfortunate not to come away with all three points.

Now back on the mainland, Maxwell and his charges are back into the competition where they reached the last eight last season before being beaten by the side that went onto the Trophy final under the Wembley Arch – Aldershot Town. 

We caught up with the Brickies boss after a long week – he told us, “We return to home comforts to say the least!” 

“This week has been a full-on experience organising our trip to the Channel Islands with the players, making sure that we were picking the right squad, managing people who may not have been one hundred percent fit and managing who we took on the plane.”

“I didn’t want to take anyone who wasn’t going to feature, but as it turned out, Jack (Steventon) didn’t get on, but that was just a precaution as I didn’t think it was worth the squeeze on his ankle.”

“There have been a lot of spinning plates this week – we didn’t go for a “jolly-up”, we went to win a game of football and when we had the incredible backing that we had from you travelling in your numbers, we had no other choice other than to make sure we gave you a performance and I think we did that.”

“We gave it our absolute all to try and force the win, to respect you all following us like that!” 

Maxwell went on, “I honestly believe that we deserved more than a point. I think it has taken a lot out of us – lack of sleep and great effort in the game! We had the lightest of training sessions on Thursday I can tell you!” 

Looking ahead to the weekend and Hashtag’s visit to Swale, the Brickies boss told us, “I was asked if it was best for us to have this Trophy game this weekend rather than a League game?”

“Possibly it is… it’s always better to get three points on the board, but we gave so much on the trip out to Jersey mid-week, and we are still on our unbeaten run.”

“The team bonding has certainly gone up another level this week – it was a positive trip in a lot of ways, and I do think a break for the Trophy is quite welcome!” 

“They come to the Staxson Stadium from the Isthmian Premier – they are a division above us and that demands respect alone.”

“And they will get that from us – I know them well; I know them individually quite well and know a lot of the players personally as well as the management team.”

“We know what we are going to get Saturday afternoon, and we will have to be prepared for some dangerous players who on their day can easily win a game of football with a little bit of magic!”

“It will be a tough game, but it’s not our first rodeo in this competition as you all know, and we have our Fortress to protect!” 

Picture supplied by Ian Scammell.