Maidenhead’s Dave Tarpey is this week’s Big Interview
IT seemed certain a month or so ago that the Tarpedo was a missile heading ominously in only one direction. True of his club, Maidenhead United, as well.
Nine points clear in the National League South with only one defeat all season and their rivals? Well they didn’t seem to actually have any.
Ebbsfleet United still weren’t getting it right. St Albans City looked the most likely to put up a fight and Dartford? Well they weren’t even on the radar.
Christmas was coming and a present was expected to land under striker Dave Tarpey’s tree.
Football is often said to be about being in the right place at the right time. It’s about who sees you do something special, that scout sold on a great game he happens to attend. Doors open if the clockwork is right.
Nobody could have not seen his special moment towards the end of 2016. Caught on camera, Tarpey’s Bergkamp-esque goal against Dartford went global.
He became a household name and MK Dons, Barnet, Walsall, Wycombe and Bristol Rovers were all waiting for the window to kick into gear.
Relentless
A full-time move was about to happen and the Football League – a dream of his since childhood – was about to be realised. He will turn 29 later this year, the doors to the last chance saloon opened wide. But he’s still here with us.
“For whatever reason, it didn’t happen,” said Tarpey, who has 30 league goals for the Magpies so far this season. He can still get a full-time move, but only to another NonLeague club.
“I’m staying now until the end of the season, that’s for certain,” he added. “Nothing happened in January and to be honest, I didn’t actually think it would. I know there’s no window outside the Football League but I’ll be here until the summer no question of that.
“It was probably a bit soon for me. I want to get us promoted so I’m more than happy to stay because I really want to get us up.
“My head is set and I want to stay at Maidenhead for the rest of the season and take it from there. I want to keep scoring the goals too and fingers crossed I can help get us over the line.”
Things aren’t quite as simple for the Stripes as they were heading into Christmas.
Their form hasn’t nosedived, but the chasing pack have gone from motionless to relentless.
Playing on their mind perhaps could be last season. Maidenhead weren’t in the chase, but their foes from Stonebridge Road certainly were.
The shoe is on the other foot. Fleet are this season the ones doing the chasing after watching Sutton United chew away at their big advantage week by week. They collapsed under the pressure.
Just like last season, Daryl McMahon’s men meet the side battling them from the title on the penultimate day of the season.
As Maidenhead manager Alan Devonshire said, there are sure to be twists and turns ahead in the road.
“Budget wise and player wise you would look at them and say yes, Ebbsfleet were probably the favourites before the season started,” said Tarpey, whose wonder goal earlier in the season was viewed online over a million times. “But we’ve shown this year what a
Hallmark
Not at their best of late, Tarpey knows not losing when putting in below part performances is a hallmark of a champion. “We’ll take points like last weekend when we didn’t play well,” he added. “Problem is now the teams below us in the table, the likes of Ebbsfleet, Chelmsford and Dartford, are winning their games. “Good teams know how to grind results out, wins or draws, so in only losing twice this season we have proven we can do the hard graft. “Last season we struggled, especially away from home, to get the results like we have been this year on the road. We’ve found a way to do it, to grind as I say. “We drew with Poole 1-1 last weekend and didn’t play well. We scored in injury time from nothing really and last year we wouldn’t have got anything out of that. “We’re there to be shot at, and have been all year. We’ve been top since pretty much the first week of the season and that’s every manager’s team talk done for them before they play us on a Saturday or a Tuesday. We’ve put ourselves in that position. “We’ve got a bit of a cushion but look at last season with Sutton United, that means absolutely nothing. It’s now about performing and keeping focused. We’ve got a great chance but we’ve got to rise to the challenge.” team we are. We’re a unit, we enjoy playing with each other and for each other and that makes a big difference. “We’ve got Ebbsfleet on the second to last game of the season of course, that will be a tasty match – it’s tight at the moment so there should still be something riding on it come the final few weeks of April. “But there’s a lot to do before we get to that stage. We’re not thinking that far ahead and you can’t forget Dartford, because they are on a great run of form right now as well. It’s going to be an exciting end to the season.”