Needham Market versus Dartford: Kevin Horlock does not want players to hold back in bid for FA Trophy quarter-final spot
It has already been quite some journey for Needham Market in this season’s Buildbase FA Trophy but ahead of hosting Dartford tomorrow (3pm), manager Kevin Horlock is hopeful his players can prove they are not done yet.
Having already dumped out Step 1 clubs Wealdstone and Yeovil Town earlier in the competition, the Step 3 Marketmen stand tantalisingly just 90 minutes from a quarter-final spot and only three wins from a Wembley final.
Vanarama National League South Dartford are the firm favourites to progress though, having risen to third in the table and four points off the summit following a fourth straight victory.
Needham will certainly go into the fifth round tie – the latest biggest game in their history having previously never got further than the second round – the fresher of the sides though. The Darts’ latest success, a 1-0 win, came in an away trip to Havant & Waterlooville on Wednesday.
While Horlock is wary of saying it gives them the upper hand, with his side having not been in action since Saturday’s 2-2 home draw with Royston Town, it has allowed him to have two training sessions this week.
And his key message ahead of the game will be to once again for his players to ensure they do themselves justice by playing the game and not the occasion in a bid to gift-warp another magical day for the club.
He said: “Football can be a really cruel game at times and there is lot’s of lows. The highs are harder to come by, so when they’re here you’ve got to make the most of them.
“But when you do get the highs, like the Yeovils, like the Wealdstones, you crave more of it.
“It is massive. I’ve said it a number of times and I said it to the lads before the Yeovil game; I wasn’t fearful of losing the game. It can happen.
“My fear was the lads going out and not showing how good they are.
“I want them to be able to go out and express themselves and play without fear because that way anything is possible.
“Like at Yeovil, I thought they went out and instead of playing the occasion they just played the game.
“I’ve got a squad of players I trust wholeheartedly so I just want them to turn up on Saturday, given there is going to be a big crowd – certainly our biggest of the season.
“If we do that and we’re as good as we can be we’ve got a chance, there’s no doubt about that.”
While his assistant, Tom Rothery, has previously watched their opponents live, Horlock was hoping to do likewise on Wednesday.
But he will be expecting his side to show better game management than they did at Bloomfields on Saturday. Goals from Tom Maycock – his first for the club – and Luke Ingram were cancelled out by conceding twice in the last four minutes against fellow play-off hopeful Royston.
“It was frustrating and I didn’t see it coming,” said Horlock, whose side were left 10th in the Pitching In Southern League Premier Central, 11 points off fith-placed Avelchurch with four games in hand.
The game saw a debut for experienced left-sided specialist Patrick Brothers, with the former Leiston player joining following a spell with lower-league Brantham Athletic, where his sibling, former Needham player Michael, was manager before being relieved of his duties.
“Obviously everyone in the county knows Patch, he has been an unbelievable player and still is,” said Horlock. “He could be a really astute signing.”
Brothers is likely to continue at left-back with Callum Sturgess suspended while Maycock is cup-tied.
Meanwhile, exciting young central midfielder Taylor Clark is set to be available, despite being invited back to Aston Villa - where he had recently completed a trial - next week.
The Bloomfields club have been busy gearing up for the game off-the-field with hopes their record attendance of 1,748 - for their FA Cup fourth qualifying round tie versus Cambridge United on October 26, 2013 – could be passed.
