WE’RE STILL A HAPPY VALLEY
STEVE McKimm says his Cray Valley PM players have shown their FA Cup heroics haven’t gone to their heads.
Tuesday night’s 3-0 win over Chichester City took the Millers to the halfway point of their Pitching In Isthmian South East campaign unbeaten.
It’s been a relentless run as they played catch-up on their division rivals following their run to the FA Cup first round proper.
They held League One big guns Charlton Athletic to a 1-1 away draw to land a money-spinning televised replay.
And while the Addicks eventually ran out 6-1 winners – Cray were level at 1-1 through Kyrell Lisbie’s penalty – it has given them the stage to push on with their league ambitions.
Up to second in the table, they still have games in hand on those around them and McKimm says the focus can’t waver.
“We’ve had an unbeliev“The first part of the season,” McKimm told The NLP. “We’re up to halfway through the league campaign without losing and we’ve had a good cup run, which helped the club out.
“All in all, you can say it’s been a joy. I wouldn’t say successful because it hasn’t been – we haven’t won anything. But it is a joy.
No stone unturned
“We’ve got to continue the hard work the staff are putting into the players and the hard work the players are putting in on the pitch. If we can continue to do that, it can be an enjoyable season.”
McKimm is proud there hasn’t been the cliched drop off in performances once the FA Cup circus left town.
“We always believed the players were focused on the main goal which is to try and get this club promoted,” he said. “It’s going to be difficult. There are a lot of good teams in this league.
players took the club the furthest they’ve been in the FA Cup for a second time and the furthest they’ve been in the FA Trophy.
“Once that was done, we’ve got our heads down on the league. The boys have been really good in training.
“If we’ve missed games because of postponements, they’ve been in training so they’re not leaving any stone unturned.
“They’re getting their reable
wards and we keep telling them that.”
Frantic
McKimm says playing catch up hasn’t been about trying to chase down high-flying Ramsgate – 11 points clear ahead of the weekend – but getting as many games ticked off as possible before an equally frantic second half of the season.
“We have to keep our eyes focused on the next game – we don’t look too far ahead,” McKimm said. “I said to the boys last Saturday away at Lancing, that it was one of our games in hand because of a lot were off. We came through that one.
“It’s been a matter of getting in as many games as possible to catch up with every team – not just Ramsgate, who are flying high but everyone.
“Hythe are in a similar situation. I know Watty (manager Steve Watt) well and they’ve only played 16 league games. They’re going to end up playing a lot in a short space of time. If they get on a run of winning, they will thrive on it.
“Our main aim is to catch up with everyone in and around us on league games. We’re at halfway, we’re still a couple behind those around us. Every time we get one of those games, we’ve got to be on it.”