Margate are in their best form for years going into tonight’s match at Isthmian South East leaders Beckenham. Gate’s 4-0 FA Cup win at Bognor Regis on Saturday was their fourth successive win in all competitions.
It’s the first time they’ve achieved that since Ben Greenhalgh joined the club, initially as a player, three years ago. Now player-manager, he’s out to keep their good run going away to a Beckenham side who, like Gate, are unbeaten in the league.
Gate, 2-1 winners against Deal on Tuesday last week, aren’t due to play another league game until Lancing away on October 5, so there’s plenty riding on tonight. “This will be our only league game for the next three weeks,” said Greenhalgh. “We’ve got the Kent Cup in a week’s time, the Velocity Cup the week after and between those we’ve got FA Trophy and FA Cup on the Saturdays. “So it’s going to be one of those where you’ll look back in three weeks’ time and hope you got a good result because obviously we’re going to be falling back down the table. “We put on a really good performance against Deal and managed to get a last-minute winner and we’ve got to keep those levels up, keep pushing as long as we can. “It’s one of the first times, especially since I’ve been at Margate, that I’m going into every game confident as a player and I feel like the trust is in the team. “We know what we’re doing, we’re tactically aware and there’s a lot of confidence and that can build into the game and help us when things go wrong in a game. “I’ve had a look and it’s the first time since I’ve been at Margate, in my fourth year, that we’ve won four games in a row, so that’s something we’re proud to do. “We’ve now got to try and make that five and keep that run going. “Everyone knows how