Boss praises character

Tommy Warrilow has praised the character of his Ashford players following their late winner at Ramsgate on Saturday.

An 89th-minute header from Josh Wisson saw United emerge from Southwood with a hardfought 2-1 victory to earn their first three points of the season.

Warrilow says the match was another reminder of how well his side are playing so far this campaign, in spite of what he describes as the most difficult pre-season he’s ever had.

“Everyone knows it’s been a difficult summer for us, but if we carry on, progress and not shout from the rooftops, I know we’ll be fine and there at the end,” he said.

“We were excellent against Whitehawk and should have been out of sight against Phoenix. Bracknell, of course, are a very good side and were the better team on the day. They have an excellent manager but are also in a completely different position to us financially.

“But we’ve then flown back at Ramsgate on Saturday where we absolutely peppered their goal, so it would have been a complete injustice on our part had they got a point.

“Obviously that nearly happened when we got suckerpunched late on with their equaliser, but the lads showed great character to dig deep and cash in with another goal right at the death.

“So overall it was a really good performance in horrendous conditions against a great side that everyone knows about this year, in what was also just our second league game.

“We’ve still got to learn to pull the trigger a bit more, but we stepped up and really raised our game. I don’t think Motty made a save in the second half - it was just attack after attack from us.”

With no match this weekend, the Nuts & Bolts travel to Sittingbourne on Tuesday for their next Isthmian South East fixture.

Warrilow admits the trip to Woodstock Park will be a challenge, as they face a Brickies side who themselves put in a spirited performance during their 2-1 defeat to title favourites Cray Valley at the weekend.

The 56-year-old added: “We had two tough games against Sittingbourne last year, and during the match at Homelands they were the better side.

“I expect another difficult game but I expect a difficult match every week in this league and that’s why me or the boys can’t take anything for granted.

“In three of the four games as a whole so far we’ve been beginning to knit together and understand each other more, but we’re certainly not going to get carried away.”