WHITE: WE CAN ROCK ROMANS
PROMOTION specialist Marc White looked ahead to this afternoon’s play-off showdown against Bath City and insisted: “We’re the favourites.”
The Dorking Wanderers founder has overseen an astonishing 11 promotions since the club came into being in 1999 – and he doesn’t fancy stopping yet.
However, many would see the Surrey club as underdogs going into today’s clash. After all, Bath finished fourth to Dorking’s seventh, giving them home advantage, and took four points from the two league meetings between the sides (a 1-0 home win in October and a goalless draw in the return at the start of February). But manager White told The
NLP: “I think they are beatable and I genuinely believe we are the favourites.
“I look at the players around the club and I have boys who have won this league before and played big matches. We are a strong side, an experienced side and I would always fancy our chances in a one-off game.
“We had a great practice match last week and played some great football in beating Notts County 3-1 at their place. The players have come back from that looking good.
“Of course, Bath are more than good enough to beat us on the day, but I think they will fear us. They will think we are a very difficult game.”
Although confident of his side’s chances of earning a semi-final at third-placed Weymouth, White is full of admiration for Bath boss Jerry Gill.
“I think they were the best coached team in the league and Jerry has done a brilliant job,” said the 44-year-old, who led Dorking to Isthmian Premier title glory last term. “In both of our league games against them we did really well and the actual scorelines show why I really rate Jerry. The first game we were pretty dominant and lost 1-0. Jerry’s set-up was really good.
“At our place, they were coming off the back of a 7-0 defeat at Wealdstone. We were doing well, but he set his side out to get behind the ball and not get beat. There aren’t many managers who could coach their team that well in a week but he did it brilliantly. “They will have a good idea how to stop us and nick something.”
One of the unknowns about today’s eliminator is how the teams are going to last the pace.
White explained: “I’m not underestimating how difficult it will be for the players because four months without football is longer than any close season.
“To go back to play match-pace 90 minutes is going to be a real eye-opener. At 60 minutes, will the players be able to give you a bit more?”
But whether they win through or not, it’s already been another remarkable campaign.
White added: “We have a British record number of promotions and it’s all been done in a sporting way – we haven’t got a sugar-daddy. It’s a story people are interested in and reaching the National League would be incredible. “The managers at our level have battled really hard to get these playoffs on and it’s a bit of a free hit for us in our first season at this level.
“We have a good track record in one-off matches, but if we get beat and it’s over quite quickly, at least the hard work of the managers will have helped someone get promoted.”