Cawley: "We Are Where We Expected To Be"

By Josh Cole

Interview by Dylan Smith

Margate striker Steve Cawley said the ‘Gate could’ve had the “game killed” off by the end of the first half on Saturday at The Aspect Arena against Concord Rangers.

Margate led 2-0 after just nine minutes thanks to goals from Sam Blackman an Cawley himself, but were threatened by Concord who reduced the arrears in the 45th minute.

“I think all the boys are feeling it after that one, it was a very scrappy game, I think if we go in at half time 2-0 up it changes the whole perspective of the second half, I mean we could’ve had the game killed off by the end of the first half, easily going in four or five up but we didn’t take advantage of our good start and from playing here for years I knew that if they got a sniff they would make it hard and that’s what happened right on half time and they had some good chances in the second half but we defended well to take home the three points.”

Cawley is “buzzing” to have opened his account for Margate in the Isthmian Premier Division this season.

“First two games I didn’t really get any chances to shoot, and we weren’t putting in enough crosses but today Archie (Johnson) has put in a cross in the first five minutes and I’ve missed a header which I would expect myself to score but three minutes later the ball has fell on a plate for me, so they all count but I’m buzzing to get off the mark”.

The striker travelled to The Aspect Arena expecting a tough battle from all his years at Concord, and he complimented the defence and how they dealt with the wave of attacks The Beach Boys had in the second half.

“I knew coming here that it was going to be a battle, the defence has done exceptionally in the second half, they’ve had a couple of chances and they were on top for a little bit, but the boys dug in and defended well and towards the end we got more chances, but we just couldn’t put them away so I think, in the end, the scoreline flattered them a little bit.”

The ’Gate have taken six points from a possible nine out of the first three games and Cawley says the ‘Gate are where we “expected” to be after the first three.

“Six points from nine is really good and where we expected to be and across the season as a whole you want to be averaging two points per game. It won’t be plain sailing against Cheshunt as they will be tough, they’ve come down from the league above so they’ll be unpredictable and they’ll be looking to change their season as they haven’t started the greatest.”

Cawley is glad to have a break in midweek with the game against Cheshunt giving the boys six days of rest before the weekend’s double header.

“I’m glad we have got a little bit of a rest in midweek obviously apart from training, but the season has started tough and fast especially with the first three games we had against Whitehawk, Hornchurch and Concord and the quick turnarounds in between those fixtures but we’ll go into training fresh, work on what needs to be ironed out and we go again on Friday”.

Steve Cawley and Margate are back at home this Friday as we take on Cheshunt under the lights! You can get your tickets for that game by clicking here. 

Cawley’s home kit is sponsored by Norman Stanley, whilst his away kit is sponsore by Lewis Colley for the 2023/24 season.

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