Mark Tompkins, manager of Ryman league Division One South club Chipstead, is refusing to get carried away by the club's impressive pre-season form.

The Chips have won four and drawn one of their friendlies so far, the last being a 3-1 win over Erith Town, but former Croydon manager Tompkins  is urging restraint about the results however.

"The results don’t really mean that much, pre-season is about fitness and preparation," he said.

"I’ve managed a team before when they’ve had a great pre-season then lost five games in a row.

"We’ve got a tough first game against Burgess Hill Town and then Dartford who are a big club with a large budget, but on the plus side, that match is at home."

Chipstead have two friendlies left, away at Loxwood this Saturday then at home to Ryman Premier side Carshalton Athletic on August 8th.

New signings for Chipstead are still being negotiated but definitely joining the team are Ray Freeman, formerly of Maidstone United, Matt Howard, the Tooting & Mitcham United midfielder, and young talent Duwayne Morris from Sevenoaks Town.

Former Sutton United and England semi-professional international midfielder Mickey Stephens  also joins from Leatherhead as assistant-manager.

One of the most disconcerting periods in Ryman League Division One South club Folkestone Invicta’s eighteen-year history in senior football could be nearing an end.

Former director Lynn Woods said: “We have made an offer to HM Customs & Revenue and believe we are on the cusp on them accepting it.”

Woods and close ally Mark Jenner have been working hard with Invicta’s three remaining directors – Nigel Busbridge, Bob Dix and Brian Merryman – to get Invicta’s affairs straight ahead of the new season.

In a statement, Woods added: “Nothing is yet finalised but supporters can be reassured that there is now every reasonable expectation of Folkestone Invicta being able to take its place in the Ryman League for the coming season – albeit with a statutory ten-point deduction.”

Shareholders were told five weeks ago that the club’s current debts were £72,000 with administration seemingly inevitable.

It is understood that Messrs Woods and Jenner will be joined by the three existing directors on a new five-man board.

Manager Neil Cugley  was heartened by the news, and heartened even more by his young side’s best pre-season performance so far in a very good 2-0 win at Deal Town on Tuesday.

Second half goals from Mike Yianni – a terrific header from Billy Swallow’s excellent cross – and a shot from Micheal Everitt that the goalkeeper couldn’t hold – giving Folkestone their fourth victory in as many games.

They were without Jimmy Dryden aggravated a midweek ankle injury in a surprise appearance last weekend.

Cugley says he will use his main striker sparingly in a bid to have him fully fit for the league opener against Dulwich on August 15th.

Also out were midfielder Darren Smith (holiday) who also misses Saturday’s trip to play Erith & Belvedere at Welling United and centre back Liam Dickson, who may be in the squad against Erith following a knee problem.

Especially encouraging at Deal was Folkestone’s second half performance when all of their ‘fringe players’ showed up well, with no obvious slackening of Invicta’s grip on the game.

That against a good Town side who had already two Ryman League teams - Ramsgate and Cray Wanderers.

John Crumplin, manager of Ryman League Division One South club Walton & Hersham, has issued a simple warning to his squad - shape up or ship out!

Crumplin  was angered by his side’s display as the Swans laboured to a 1-0 win over Molesey last Saturday, Sean Rivers grabbing the goal.

And the Walton boss made it clear he will not accept a repeat performance.

He said: “The players all knew I would be switching the side around totally at half time, like I have done every pre-season game, but still the team in the first half played at jogging pace.

“That is not acceptable and I had them running around the pitch at half time to make my point.

“If the players know they are getting 45 minutes you expect them to give it a go straight away.

“I am not going to stand for that, and the team in the second half had the benefit of an ear-bashing.”

Crumplin aims to have his squad finalised by this weekend and he admits recent displays have given him plenty of food for thought.

He added: “A few of the players have not showed me enough and they will not be here when the season starts.

“But I want everything sorted by this weekend, so we have two good weeks to prepare for the first game of the season.”

Simon Colbran, manager of Ryman League Division One South club Worthing, is delighted with the way his squad is shaping up.

The Rebels impressed supporters with the way they played in last Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with a Brighton XI.

The loss of regulars such as Ben Andrews, Scott Kirkwood and Mickey Demetriou had left some fans concerned about life under Colbran. But those doubts were put to one side after they created a string of chances against the Seagulls with Wayne Clarke, one of the manager’s new signings, particularly impressing.

Colbran  said: “We kept the ball and tried to play football, which is what I have been working on in training. That is how I like the game to be played.

“Clarkey is a quality player - that is why I have got him here. He is quick, good on the ball and scores goals.

“I am there with my squad. We are covered in all areas. Every one of them will give me 100% but can also get the ball down and play.”

Clarke was joined by fellow new signings Gavin Gordon, Ben Johnson, Dean Chamberlain and Brendan Sebuliba against the Seagulls.

Defenders Jamie Groves (Shoreham) and Mark Zydonik (Three Bridges) stood out among a number of triallists and Colbran is keen to sign them along with Brighton University student Ben Williamson who scored within 90 seconds of coming on as a substitute. The other triallists included former Three Bridges midfielder Hassan Nyang and forward Pani Oritis, who scored a dozen goals for Lingfield towards the end of last season.

Colbran also confirmed he is likely to be dual-signing Crowborough Athletic pair Sam Carrington and Scott Treleaven and is talking to Eastbourne Borough youngster Tom Moffatt.

Ryman League Division One South club Eastbourne Town and England Schools` striker James Norwood has signed a one-year professional contract with Coca-Cola League One side Exeter City.

The 19-year-old was two-weeks into a month-long trial when the South West club acted swiftly to secure Norwood's signature.

It has been an incredible rise for Norwood, who last year represented Eastbourne Town youth, first-team, St Bede's and England Schools. He netted ninety-six times from fifty-four games.

In June he represented his country against France at Wembley Stadium and scored during the 4-2 defeat.

Jimmy Cooper, manager of Ryman League Division One South club Metropolitan Police, shrugged off defeat in the first pre-season friendly by insisting that preparations are going exactly to plan.

The Blues were beaten 4-2 by Blue Square Premier side Grays Athletic on Tuesday night, slumping to defeat courtesy of two late goals.

Gary Drewitt and James Greenaway were on target for the Met, and Cooper  reckons the performance offered him a lot of positives.

He said: “Overall I thought it was quite an impressive display.

“To lose like that to a side three leagues above us is no disgrace, and it gave me the chance to have a good look at twenty players.

“Things did get a bit disjointed late on as I made a few changes, but you expect that.

“The pre-season games are all about giving the triallists a chance, and I will be using another twenty players when we play Dartford on Saturday.

“But overall I am delighted and I think this is the best pre-season we have had since I came to the club.

“The training methods are really taking shape and the squad looks hungry for success.”

Cooper fielded his most recent signing, Chertsey Town’s Marcus Moody on Tuesday night.
And the Blues boss admitted his delight at finally securing the left-sided midfielder.

He added: “I have been tracking Marcus for about four or five years, and trying to sign him every year since then.

“He is a naturally left-footed player and he has a lot of skill on the ball.

“I have no doubt whatsoever that he can make the step up, and he was by far our best player on Tuesday night.

“He is a very good signing for us and he will be a vital asset this season.”

New Horsham YMCA signings Nigel Brake and John Westcott are already making a big impression on manager Chris White.

The former Horsham pair were signed last week as YMCA gear up for their first season back in the Ryman League Division One South.

And White likes what he has seen so far. "I am very pleased with the new signings," he said.

"I signed John and Nigel for their experience and their ability. I think they are both very good footballers, and they fit in with what we want to do and how we want to play football.

"Having seen them in training, I think they will be a major asset to us."

Mark Pulling  and Luke Gedling have also joined from league rivals Worthing and Burgess Hill Town respectively, while Sam Jeremiah and Anthony Hibbert have made the step up from the Sussex County League.

Spencer Collins, manager of Ryman League Division One South club Walton Casuals, reckons he has unearthed some rough diamonds after raiding the Combined Counties League for a trio of signings.

Collins has tempted Epsom & Ewell’s Kyle Hough, Chertsey Town’s full back Mark Warner and Chessington & Hook centre half Tony Houghton to the Waterside as the Stags look to improve on last season’s dismal Ryman Division One South campaign.

And Collins  admits he has had to produce some wheeling and dealing to boost the ranks.

He said: “There has been no change in our budget this season so there has been a lot of hard work to get new players in.

“We have not got the finances to look at levels above us - we have to work with what we have got.

“But there are a lot of good players in the Combined Counties League and I am sure these guys can make the step up.”

Former Carshalton Athletic and Molesey striker James Rose is also on his way to Walton, with Nick Burton, Jack Francis and Michael Barima exiting.

And Collins can now turn his attentions to a testing pre-season schedule, which sees the Stags play seven games in the next two weeks.

Up this Saturday is a clash with Molesey as part of the annual Mick Burgess memorial tournament, and the Walton boss admits he will need the games to establish some sort of pattern.

Collins added: “We have got a packed schedule as the players will need games to get used to both each other and the style we want to play.

“But that is the same for every level of football and the players that have come in are players that I wanted so I have no problem with that.”

Tim O`Shea, the manager of Ryman League Division One South club Croydon Athletic, has been busy re-building his squad for the forthcoming season.

From last season’s squad, O`Shea and assistant-manager Neil Smith have seen Richard Blackwell, Tom Bolarinwa, Romauld Bouadji, Bradley Duke, Ross Flitney, Nathan Green, Ben Godfrey, Michael Gordon, Joe Howe, Dan Moody, Karl Murray, Adam Peck, Robbie Ryan, Neil Smith, Danny Waldren and Jeremy Williams all return.

Moving onto pastures new are former Arsenal and Woking midfielder Ian Selley, Sam Clayton, Luke Adams, Scott Todd, Shabazz Baidoo, Serge Makofo, Lamin Ojo and Jeremiah Olusanya.

O`Shea and Smith have been busy during the summer identifying players who they wanted talk to about joining the club, and with the nucleus of last year’s squad being retained, they were only looking to recruit a handful of new players to fill relevant gaps and to end up having a squad of between eighteen and twenty players.

Moving into the KT Stadium thus far are strikers Scott Forrester and Gary Noel, defender or midfielder Chris O`Flaherty and experienced defender Justin Gregory.

Forrester joins us from league rivals Metropolitan Police where he spent the majority of last season apart from a short period when he moved to Blue Square Premier Grays Athletic. After a short spell with Grays he returned to the Met and completed the season with them.

A familiar player in the Ryman League having also played for Leatherhead in the past, Forrester is seen a great acquisition to the Athletic squad and being 6` 2” will provide presence and strength to the forward line.

Noel joins us from Ryman Premier side Harrow Borough where he made quite an impression last season.

A skilful and pacey forward, he scored eighteen goals in just twenty-two appearances for Harrow.

O’Flaherty arrives from Worthing. An experienced left-sided player who was a regular in the Worthing team for the past two seasons.

 

Gregory moves to Athletic from another league rival in Burgess Hill Town. The full back comes to the KT Stadium with a wealth of experience having played for Crawley Town, Hastings United, Lewes, Dulwich Hamlet, Farnborough Town, Stevenage Borough and Havant & Waterlooville.

New boss Mick Sullivan reckons the buzz is back at Leatherhead, less than a month after he took over.

Having endured a turbulent campaign last time out, which saw three managerial changes and a disappointing finish in the lower half of the Ryman League Division One South, the Tanners were crying out for some stability.

And Sullivan insists he will be the man to provide it.

He said: “I have had a couple of training sessions at the club and already the place feels buoyant.

“I put out the feelers for players to come along if they were interested in joining and seventy-five turned up for the first session, which caught me by surprise.

“I think we can safely say that there is not seventy-five quality players, but just the fact that they turned up says the message is getting through.

“Speaking to the players here from last year everybody is really up for the season, and most of them cannot believe how things seem to have changed for the better in such a short time.”

The former Merstham boss wasted little time in tempting some of his former cohorts to Fetcham Grove, drafting in midfielders Mark Simmonds and Michael Morgan, defender Chris Boulter and striker Kwebana Agyei, along with former Walton Casuals` keeper Craig Bradshaw.

And Sullivan is eager to get the season underway. He added: “I think the fact those players wanted to follow me here speaks volumes.

“Now we can concentrate on getting the systems in place so we can hit the ground running come August.

“Everyone seems to want to play pretty football but that is not always a possibility.

“We will be a passing side but that could change from week to week depending on the circumstances.

“At the end of the day I will be judged on winning games and not pretty football.”