Sittingbourne kept up the pressure on Isthmian South East leaders Ramsgate with a 3-0 crushing of Margate on Tuesday night and this weekend look to continue their unbeaten run by claiming three more League points on the road at Reachfields. 

But Hythe Town under former Brickies boss Nick Davis have shown some signs of recovery recently and go into the weekend second from bottom in the table still six points from safety. 

When we spoke to the Brickies boss, he acknowledged that both sides have very different targets but it’s still the same three points up for grabs.  

“We know that Hythe are fighting for their lives, so of course we understand that they are going to be another tough team to play against,” Maxwell told us. 

“They are down at the wrong end of the table, and we have to make sure that we don’t take them for granted in any way, shape or form. We will go there and give them every bit of respect they deserve and understand that they are fighting for their place in the League whilst we are fighting for something very different. We know we have to make sure that we are mentally focused and prepared for it.” 

“We travel after four points out of two home games. The first game against Beckenham was very frustrating as I was pleased with our second half performance certainly but they are no fools and at the end of the day, they cleared four off the line, and for us to be so dominant, you would expect a goal at least from that.  

“We just couldn’t get it in the net and it was very frustrating because we created more than enough chances to win two or three games of football let alone just one! A little bit of good fortune and some good defending kept their clean sheet – a very frustrating Saturday!”  

“I wanted the players to repeat their performance on Tuesday at home to Margate as a way to respond to Saturday’s result. They created enough chances to win Saturday but haven’t and that can derail some teams, but this team is very strong minded, we have been tested many times this season and to go quickly into the derby game on Tuesday was another one.  

“I think the result (3-0) and the performance speaks for itself. I was really pleased on Tuesday from the kick-off with everybody’s performance, the scoreline says we played well, it was a really good professional performance and 3-0 was certainly well deserved. I said to the players that they were all playing front foot with a confident attitude and I was really pleased with everyone and to win a derby 3-0 is a great performance regardless!” 

One man missing from the Brickies trip to Reachfields is former Hythe man Jack Steventon who has been such an integral part of the Brickies squad this season but an injury at Erith Town, sadly means that the central defender’s season is over! 

“I’m devastated for him,” the Brickies boss admitted. “He’s been outstanding as a player; he was our man of the match at Southend; he scored four in one game from centre back; he’s been part of our rock solid defence and as a person, I cannot speak highly enough of him!  

“He has been a joy to manage and is still very much part of us. He’ll still be at training and at games and will get every single bit of help from me that he needs because I want him back in a Sittingbourne shirt as soon as possible.  

“We know it won’t sadly be this season, but we are all mindful of how much he’s put into the season and I cannot speak highly enough of him as a player and a person; yes, he will be missed but we have to adapt and make sure that he’s not overly missed and that’s where we are at right now as we go into the weekend.”