The First Qualifying Round of the Emirates FA Cup gets under way on Friday night as Tommy Warrilow leads his Faversham Town side into battle at The Aquatherm against Hastings United.
The Lillywhite’s who this week paid their final respects to former Chairman, “Mr. Faversham” Ray Leader, go into Friday night’s game top of the Isthmian South East following their triumph in winning the SCEFL Premier last season, but Warrilow knows the task facing his side as they bid to reach the Second Qualifying Round for the first time in eight years.
“Hastings are a big, big Club,” Warrilow told KSN, “I have a few mates down there and it will be good to catch up with them! But I think that, after the disappointment of being relegated last season, they will be looking to bounce back! It’s too early to look at League tables but I am expecting another tough game that we are getting every week.”
“Given that we have been away in the two rounds so far and were again last season, it’s nice to have a draw that you could possibly call favorable because we are finally at home.
“Even in the Trophy next week, we are away to Sittingbourne, I know its Kent, but it’s still away! We have been to Surrey twice already and last year it always seemed to be Sussex, it’s just nice to be at home for the fans too. I’m looking forward to it under the lights and hopefully a big crowd and it’s an opportunity to see two teams with an FA Cup feel about the game and it will be important that we don’t take the foot off the gas!”
Warrilow then paid tribute to Mr. Leader and to the way the club has bade farewell to its President! “I’ve been involved with the club for eighteen months and getting to know Ray more, he was a man who I knew of but didn’t know he was nothing but supportive; texting me before every single game, phone calls every now and then.
“It really doesn’t surprise me at all how the club has dealt with his untimely passing, there is a lot of history at board level of this Football Club! We know what the tribute we paid on Saturday (at the League game with Ashford United) and I really want to thank Lloyd (Hume) and Ashford for the part they played in Ray’s tribute before the game.
“It was the first opportunity we had had at home to pay our respects and give Ray a proper send off! The club really is a tight knit club, and it was shown in his send-off!”
“Every game is a big game for us this year! We treat everyone the same, we go out to win, we go out to attack and are all positive going into games, we know that we have a tough season ahead of us!”
“Don’t know if you can say we are flying, we have taken off and we have had a good start. We dropped points at VCD on opening day, and they are the only League points we have dropped so far.
“We made really hard work in the Extra Preliminary round of the Cup; we were awful at Balham and very fortunate to still be in the competition. But it’s just the little bit that you need every so often and at the moment, there is no way that we are not going to enjoy it and have a smile on our faces as it is a great start!
“The performances have looked organised, we are creating chances as well – we not going to get our own way a lot of the time this year and it’s how we deal with that. We are learning and getting a lot better, but I do feel that we are still only sixty or seventy percent like most teams at this time of the season.”
“Boys are coming back to fitness which is good; the competition for places is good and we’ll go into Friday with just a couple of niggles that might be OK!”