AFTER a thumping by second-paced Faversham Town last weekend, the fixtures list does not get any easier for South Park, who now have third-placed Folkestone Invicta to contend with – but manager Joe McElligott insists these are the game his side relish.
The Sparks, still in their first season in the Ryman League, lost 4-0 to title-chasing Faversham on Saturday, but with two of the goals coming in the final minutes of the game, McElligott believes the scoreline was "harsh".
"I think the best way to describe it is that we aspire to be like the top four or five teams in the league and that kind of performance is why," he said. "It was 1-0 at half-time and the way we were playing I thought we were going to get back into it but then they got their second. We got a couple of injuries towards the back end of the game and they demonstrated why they are where they are in the league by capitalising on that with a couple of goals. The scoreline was harsh but credit to Faversham, because they deserved the result."
And McElligott is hoping his side learn from the defeat to Faversham as they prepare to travel to Folkestone this weekend.
"We always knew January would be a difficult month for us," he said.
"We have some tough fixtures but that is just how it is. Folkestone have had another good season and we look forward to playing them, these are the sort of games we are here to play.
"There have been a couple of occasions this season when we have conceded more goals than I would have liked. I don't like conceding goals or losing games, so when we have done that it is something I'm conscious of.
"It is something we have to learn from and hopefully we can take that into the game at Folkestone because I want us to do better than we did last Saturday."
