10 February, Kevin Rayner interview (v Camberley)

A 2-0 victory tonight against the team second in the league, did you expect that?
We said to the lads that our side is just as good as theirs, and we’re all fully fit now. I fully expected us to get a result tonight. We dug in and thoroughly deserved it. It was important not to think we would get beaten and we’re on a good little run.

We’re unbeaten in six league matches, and not lost at home in the league since the start of October - do you think we can carry that form on?
It gives you something to hold on to and aim for, and our away form has been very good as well. The squad is excellent. Tonight we had Luke Simpson making his debut. He’s had a groin problem, but he’s a really good player who has played at Crystal Palace and Charlton and he’s another asset for us.

The obvious talking point is Tommy Tydeman’s goal, could he ever score such a brilliant goal again?!
Tommy has such a good strike on him that I think that as soon as the ball goes into the air you have a chance. As soon as it left his boot you knew it was going in, a great strike! Along with Bridgey’s goal against Ramsgate - that has to be the goal of the season - they were both cracking goals!

We had chances to extend the lead, could we have scored more?
Yeah, they were pushing to get back into the game and we were able to get them on the break with Harrison’s pace. James Brown is very good on the ball and he can open things up. I honestly thought we would get another goal or two, and Harrison came very close at the end. One more would have put us on a positive goal difference for the season.

A similar match to Ramsgate earlier in the year in that we were playing a strong team, but came out on top because we could turn their defenders and use the pace of our attacking players, was that a deliberate tactical decision?
We started with two solid banks of four in defence and midfield until the game settled down and then changed about a bit. Some teams get surprised when they come here as we have very good players! Some of them have, or can, play higher and they’re putting it all in for the club. It’s nice to give the big teams a bit of a shock - like Camberley and North Greenford! We’re certainly as good as any of them on our day.

Antony Hall made some good saves, do you think he’s been doing well recently?
I’ve known Antony a long time and he’s a quality keeper. He had a little blip at the start of the season but he’s only conceded a handful of goals in six or seven league games. Again today he’s been under a bit of pressure but he’s made a number of good stops at 1-0 and I’m very happy with how he’s playing. He’s made two great saves tonight so he’ll be asking for double pay!

The build up to Tommy’s sending off was a bit unsavoury, what happened?
It wasn’t a nice incident, but in a way I’m pleased they were both punished as both he and the opposition player had a part in it. Tommy often gets treated a bit unfairly as it’s only him who is sent off - we saw that a few times last season. The lad has spat in Tommy’s face which is one of the worst things you can do, and Tommy likes to deal with things in his own way! Their coach came in and apologised to him, and I applaud both Camberley and the match officials for the way they dealt with it. Tommy deserved the red for his reaction, but equally the instigator had to be punished as well.

[Kevin was interviewed by Matt Howell]

27 January, Kevin Rayner post match interview (v Sutton United)

A 2-0 loss tonight against a team from two leagues above, did we do well?
I don’t think we got the rub of the green tonight. Sutton complimented us by putting out almost a full strength side - and in the first 15 minutes we more than matched them. James Brown forced their keeper into making a very good save. We were caught by a sucker punch really, but the lads didn’t let their heads go down and we played well after that.

The second half was even, did you think we had a chance of coming back into it?
Yeah, I was pleased with the way the lads played in the second half. Lots of football played on the floor. [At this point Andy Masters comes in to the room, picks something up off the floor and hits his head on a toilet roll dispenser] We were really unlucky not to get a bit closer, but we’ve done well against a side two leagues above us - but they had spells where they showed the difference. Some of our players had very impressive games, so we’ll probably get some calls from Sutton United in the next week!

Has the long period of time without a match affected the team?
It was a shame because things were going really well, and we needed to keep up the match fitness. It was good to get the Horley game in before tonight, and I think if we play like that in our next league matches we should start to shoot up the table a bit - exactly what we are looking to do!

We were so dominant against Horley, was it disappointing not to win?
We were very good in the first half, and deserved our half time lead. We had a ten minute wobble in the second though, and Tom Penson’s red card obviously didn’t help. I probably moaned at the referee too much, but he didn’t seem to take action when a home player committed a similar foul. Just a shame not to get three points.

[Kevin was interviewed by Matt Howell]

21 November, Kevin Rayner post match interview (v Bookham)

It’s been an interesting last few matches, including the 5-1 loss to North Greenford.
That scoreline didn’t really reflect the nature of the game...
I wasn’t too disappointed. It was the result and the goal difference I was annoyed with, but the game was pretty even. Those at the game saw we had some hilarious mistakes to let them score, and we could have easily ended up winning 6-5!
As soon as it finished I was looking forward to getting them back down here in the Premier Cup because there wasn’t a lot between the sides.

To beat them 5-0 soon after that was a shock, but showed what you’re saying...
We made a few changes for the ‘return game’, Tom Penson came in, we had Dan Moody up front and changed the shape a little. The way we played football was a joy to watch! I don’t think they really had a shot on goal. While the scoreline at their place flattered them, this was entirely deserved. People will look at the 5-1 and say ‘Guildford got thrashed by North Greenford’ but we put that right on Wednesday!
Second top to second bottom today, with the visit of Bookham. We’ve scored nine goals in two matches, but really we could have had that many today alone...
Yeah, Harrison could have had six. He’s played well but then missed three in the six yard box - hit them straight at the keeper! But we created lots of chances, especially in the first and last quarters of the match.
We’ve had quite a few faces in recently, will this ultimately produce a more settled first team line-up?
We had to do something because of the injuries, especially to the forwards. With Lance and Bridgey out, plus players like Tom Penson working sometimes, we’ve needed to bring more in. But we’ve been able to attract some very good players, some of whom were playing professionally last year (Liam Harwood, Jack McLeod). They’re happy to come here and get fit for a month or two months, and it’ll help the boys around them - we’ve seen that in the last two games. It’s good for the club; if we can attract these players at the moment, then with the plans we have for the future then it could look very good for this club!
Harrison Carnegie has come back into the team recently and scored five in two...
We moved him from central forward position to wide, and he lost his confidence so he found himself on the bench. Give him his due, he’s worked really hard in the last few games and he’s back where he was at the start of the season. With him and the quality we have in the rest of the team, we’re a match for anyone in the league.

[Kevin was interviewed by Matt Howell]

23 September, Kevin Rayner post match interview (v Raynes Park Vale)

So we just lost 2-1 to Raynes Park Vale. I suppose we were looking to bounce back from the disappointment in the FA Vase and FA Cup, how did you see the game?
We were looking to bounce back, I thought the first half was fairly even, not a great watch… but fairly even, and I thought 0-0 was about right at half time. A few things that we weren’t doing well first half we put right in the second half. I thought we certainly stopped them playing a bit in the second half. Unfortunately, even though it was a scrappy game if you don’t put your chances away it’s gonna come back and hurt you. That’s exactly what happened. They’ve scored from the first set play of the half with a free header, and didn’t have another chance in open play until the penalty. We didn’t really get the rub of the green, but it was a poor game really.
We’ve had a bit of a problem conceding late goals recently, two in the cup stand out, but today’s penalty was quite late on. Was that a fair decision? Should we have conceded it?
From where I was it looked a penalty. The guy just, with a bit of skill, turns Jamie and unfortunately he’s left his leg there and that’s it. So it was a fair penalty, and Anthony was unlucky; he got a hand to it but couldn’t save it. We didn’t get the luck tonight and, unfortunately, even though it was fairly even possession wise we had far more chances, clear cut chances, I mean Harrison, Sean and Lance all had one on one and, you know, two of those go in or one of them and you get something out of the game but unfortunately we’ve not put our chances away.
We saw the first appearance today of Terry Lineker who’s been struggling with an ankle injury. Are we going to see more of him?
He was only really fit for 15-20 minutes today. He’s a good forward and is probably someone we need at the moment. He’s a very good goal scorer; he’ll put the ball in the net. Also good to see Danny Elgar back! I thought Danny was excellent for the 20 minutes he was on, and we’ll see plenty of Danny to come as well. I’d say one of the real positives for the last week is probably Danny Elgar and Terry coming back. Chertsey is a good game for us at the moment; we need that type of game, where nobody is really expecting us to do anything again. If we can get ourselves back and firing we’ll have a good chance.
A couple of decisions today…we could have had a penalty in the first half! Lance was brought down in the box and the referee actually gave them a free kick. What was your view on that?
It was strange! It looked a certain penalty and I thought everyone, even their bench, thought it was our decision when the ref blew! Even his body language looked like it was ours then he suddenly put his hand up to go the other way. Like I said, we’re not getting the rub of the green at the moment. We have to stick with it and try again on Saturday.
There was also yet another on-pitch scuffle that looked to us like an exact replica of what Tommy was sent off for on Saturday but only with them! They got away with, I don’t think, even a yellow card!
Again, you don’t want to see anyone sent off – but Tommy got sent off for it on Saturday, with exactly the same with the hand in the face, and we’ve ended up getting a yellow out of it for simulation. I must admit, it was a dive afterwards But you can’t win! If that were Tommy again tonight he would probably have got a red card. 
Was it a conscious decision to take him off after the booking today? Or tactical? 
No, he had a calf problem so he was subbed. He got booked for dissent, so his fine will be double tonight; we’ve warned everybody that if they get booked for dissent we’re fining double. So he might not have as much money to go out with in the next few weeks! 
We’ve still got a couple more competitions in the Premier cup, and the senior cup. Are you going to be looking for progress in those? 
Definitely. We want to get to something decent for everybody at the club. It’s a shame that on Saturday we’re going to Chertsey and not Dover, but you’ve got to move on. I think it’s been a really poor week, the way we were playing 2 weeks ago we were playing good football and really getting at sides all over the park. The cup games have killed us a little bit at the moment, we’ve got a really good squad and it’s just a question of getting people back firing with a little bit of confidence. We have three cups, the Southern Combination, the Premier Cup, and the Surrey Senior Cup… 
…a chance still to get some decent teams in there – AFC Wimbledon, Woking, they’re all in there! It would be great for the club and for morale! And, of course, the Surrey Ad Cup against Godalming! 
Yeh Godalming are flying as well aren’t they! They’ll be good and something to look forward to. 
As long as we beat Godalming, Ash and Bedfont it’ll be a good season…just so long as we don’t have to do it on the last day again! Thanks Kev!

[Kevin was interviewed by Matt Howell and Matt Brown]

19 September, Kevin Rayner post match interview (v Mole Valley SCR)

Hi Kev! Obviously a disappointing week. Shall we start with the FA Cup… 4-1 up, 25 minutes to go, what went wrong?
Erm, we just threw it away didn’t we! Lapse in concentration, in discipline, for 10 minutes of madness and that’s it, we’ve thrown it away! Everyone knew we should have been through to a nice tie with Dover, but it didn’t happen. I think in fairness to the boys, Tuesday night, they really put that right with their performance! But again, I mean, it just seemed like it wasn’t meant to be. We’ve made a sub on 92 minutes, and I’ve asked the ref as we’ve made it, he said there was a minute and a half left, and then in the 96^th minute obviously they’ve equalised. You can blame them but, at the end of the day, we could’ve dealt with the corner better! We didn’t get the rub of the green, and I think over two games we should’ve progressed, so it’s a massive loss of opportunity there.
Do you think tired legs, tired minds are responsible for today as well?
Yeh definitely, we had a training session on Thursday and everybody was a bit flat, so we tried to raise people’s hopes because it was a big competition for us today. We lost key players on Tuesday…Anthony Hall, Gabriel, Ben Rayner and Tony Chaplin, all have been playing really well up to the first game, and they’re the right sort of player that you needed for today’s game really. I think Tuesday’s performance has cost us a little bit today; we’re very flat and didn’t get going. In fairness to Mole Valley they got in front and just got behind the ball, didn’t really do a lot and we couldn’t break them down. I think in the last 10 minutes we had a bit of a better go but it just didn’t look like it was going to happen today.
How do you lift the payers for Wednesday? How to you get them back Into Winning?
Well it’s been a tough week, and the lads were clearly gutted Tuesday night and I think that’s affected today. We’ll have a training session on Monday, and try to be a bit jovial and get everyone back and flowing and we’ll have a go on Wednesday night. I mean, it’s obviously nice to get some league points as well, it’s a different type of game, and if we can get a win on Wednesday it puts us up the table a bit nice and safe. If we’re honest the game we probably need is Chertsey away. You know that’s something that the lads can all have a go at and look forward to. That’s the type of game we need.
Injuries wise, some players looking a bit tired out there. Are you confident you’re going to have a full squad out for Wednesday.
Yeh I think obviously Gabriel seemed ok today, and I think he was a big difference; he came in from behind – it’s a shame we couldn’t start with him but he had a problem from Tuesday so he should be okay. Ben Rayner, I’m not too sure, with his hamstring – we gave him a fitness test before the game, it wasn’t good enough; we don’t want to lose him for 3 weeks, but he should be okay for Wednesday. Tony Chaplin is definitely still out for Wednesday, Anthony Hall should be okay. The squad’s good enough, we should be strong enough Wednesday night to be able to get back to where we should be and hopefully the lads will have this week out their system.
Another player that’s going to be missing again is Tommy Tydeman after his sending off. What was your view on the situation? There was talk from Mole Valley officials that we could’ve had a potential second red for a punch thrown behind the ref’s back – did you see that?
I didn’t see that, I didn’t even see the first incident. I thought it was Graham Tydeman who was going to be booked or dispatched, but I didn’t see it. Somebody said Tommy put his hands in someone’s face and if he did that it’s a  red card. In fairness, I didn’t see anything that warranted another player sent off, and I wouldn’t want to see a Mole Valley player to be sent off. However, their skipper, absolutely nowhere near the ball, and absolutely hacks Bridgeman down, and he only gets a yellow card. I went and asked the referee after about the two, and he said Tommy was for raised hands, and I said “What about the other guy?”, and he said he didn’t see it…so I asked him why he booked him then. We can moan about it, but we didn’t get the rub of the green. Tommy, unfortunately, only back today… we were waiting for him to start, and give him the captaincy back.  I didn’t think an awful lot went on, but someone said he raised his hands so it’s deserved and he’s probably cost us the game. We’ve got to learn big time for it, and we have to decide what to do with the next few games.

The sad thing for Tommy is that he was absolutely superb on Tuesday night at East Preston. He’s such a good player…
We’ve always said he’s such a good player that, if it weren’t for the discipline situation, would be playing a much higher level than combined counties…
…He’s definitely capable of that, and we’ve got to work on it, but I didn’t see it. I thought from the lads around it was Graham Tydeman, so I was surprised when he sent Tommy off.
There was a moment of confusion up in the stands, but some fans thought there was a yellow card for you at one point…
No it was Anthony Hall, just in front of me. He moaned about the penalty, and in fairness the ref struggled to control the game, it looked a blatant penalty and he’s two yards away and not given it. Anthony has said ‘that’s disgraceful’ and the linesman felt it was necessary to bring him over to book Anthony. I think it’s a bit harsh when you consider their whole bench in the first half was outrageous, and I don’t think that it really warranted that, but you’ve got to keep your comments to yourself. I think the ref struggled to control the game, but it wasn’t for me, it was for Anthony Hall. 
That will be reassuring for Mr Lofting in particular…
…Yeh I come and saw the officials after, fairly cool…not effing and blinding, and they’ve come and said thanks for my comments after and how I did it. I said to him just to be stronger in the game, he seemed a bit intimidated by Mole Valley. Very easy to give him a penalty at 2-nil down, with a few minutes to go, and I don’t think that one was even a penalty. The one at 1-nil, I think he just bottled it, but you can’t blame the officials, it’s ourselves that got beaten and we’ve got to move on.
Thanks Kev, see you on Wednesday.

5 September, Kevin Rayner's post match interview (v Westfield)

Kevin, a 3-nil win today against Westfield! Didn’t always look like it was going to be that way, certainly there was some early pressure in the first half, but we handled that. What did you think of the match?
Yep, not our best performance! I think we rode our luck a bit first half, took a while to get going, and probably only played to the best of our capabilities for about 20 minutes of the second half! But, saying that, we seemed to have much more quality than they did… I think that showed with Harrison’s goal, which was superb, and once we opened them up a bit in the last 20 minutes or so of the second half, the pace was where we should’ve been! So yes!
Sean Rivers, a new signing, got 2 goals today! What did you make of his performance? He was very good, I think.
Yes, I mean, Sean gets goals wherever he is. I think last year he was Whyteleafe’s top scorer, and has always scored plenty of goals in the Ryman league. We saw the header which was an absolute superb header! He’s just a goal scorer – he’ll get plenty of goals! But, he can play a bit as well; he can hold it up and bring others into play. He’s a very good signing for us!
Obviously Westfield had a disallowed goal very, very early on. What did you make of the incident; did you get a good enough view to have a say?
Yes he was offside! I mean, the first ball in the guy was standing on the goal line and it should’ve been blown up. Unfortunately the referee didn’t have the best game and, if you looked round a few times in the game, he wasn’t looking at his officials. The linesman had flagged straight away, so we were quite cool about it. If it had been given I think you’d have seen Roly [Martin, first team coach] and me sent from the pitch because it was clearly offside! I’ve got no problem with that decision.
I don’t know if you noticed the performance of their captain, number 8 – Lee Allum. He’s a former favourite of ours here; did you notice him at all?
Yes I did! Obviously I knew he’d played here before, and I thought he put in a really good game. I think he worked hard, and he’s one of their better players. I think him and their number 10 worked hard, and I thought they were two good lads. Lee certainly had a very good game.
Todays win means we’re through to the next round! We’ve got Mole Valley here at  The Spectrum in two weeks time. What do you make of our chances in that match? They’re at a similar level to Westfield…
Yes, it’ll be another difficult game and, again, we’re probably favourites to win that, as we were today, which makes it a little bit more difficult in a way because the other side come here with nothing to lose and have a good go. But it’s the sort of game where you want to look at progression, and if we do it right we should progress to the next round.
And a similar story next week, I suppose, with the visit of East Preston. They’ve just been relegated from Step 5. That should be a difficult match, I mean, they’ve already knocked out Camberley! Are we aware of what they possess?
Yes, we know some of the players! They’ve got a real quality forward in Lee Farrell. I’m not sure if he’s back, he’s out in the deaf Olympics for the GB team, but he’s played at Horsham, a regular Ryman Premier club, and they’ve got one or two other decent players. I think the lads are really looking forward to that, so they’re not going to be let down thinking they’re already through, I mean, we’re really looking forward to it more than anything else. I think unfortunately that showed a bit today! I think everybody’s looking forward to that game on Saturday more than today and Tuesday night [away to Dorking] to be honest!
I suppose we should talk about league matches as well! A win at Bookham on Monday! The performance was good; it was what was required, but I hear that the players looked a bit tired…
The first half wasn’t great, but second half we got going and, again, just always looked more likely to win! But yes, we were pretty tired. The good thing is that on Tuesday night at Dorking, we’ve got 4 or 5 players back again, we’ve got 24 players to choose from on Tuesday, so the competition for places is really going to hot up. After the first two games we were struggling with players and injuries, but really now we can write them off. I think since then we’ve shown how good and strong the squad can be, I think that’s the 4^th win in a row and 5 out the last 6, which isn’t bad, so…
So obviously you know the players better than we do, how confident are you of progression in the FA Vase and FA Cup?
Well yes, I expect really not to play a league game on a Saturday until well into October! If we do, obviously that brings in a lot of revenue for the club so it’s really important.
As well as the good publicity and such! I think we’ve already got one over Godalming Town, we’re one step further than they are – it left everybody at the club on a high.
Well yes exactly! It’s good!
Well, hopefully a win on Tuesday, and in the FA Cup on Saturday!
Well Tuesday night we’re gonna rest a few, ahead of the weekend, so we’ll have a changed squad but, again, we’ve got 24 players now looking for a game!
Can you make sure we win the next Vase and Cup matches, I’m not around until after the 23rd!
Well we’ve got to! Tony Chapman is suspended as well, and he’ll kill us if we don’t get through – he’s desperate to play in the next round is Tony Chaplin!
Well done again for today’s win and from us, the fans, thank you again!

[Kevin was interviewed by Matt Howell and Matt Brown]

29 August, Kevin Rayner's post match interview (v Ramsgate)

Well, we just won 3-1 against Ramsgate in the FA Cup! I don’t think many of us were expecting that, apart from… you! You were very confident before the match! How did you feel about it? 
Yes! I thought it was a great performance from the lads! We said before the game that everyone expected Ramsgate to win, but nothing was decided. We’ve got some good quality players, a lot of the lads have played at that level or higher, so we knew that if the tempo is right, we’ve got every chance and we were very confident that we could cause the upset! But, of course, everyone’s got to do it! They’ve got to have the tempo and the commitment, and I think it was excellent today! 
I think a lot of the Ramsgate supporters were shocked! They were expecting an easy ride, sort of 5-6 nil were the scores we were hearing from them as their predictions! It’s good to prove them wrong! Obviously one of the goals we saw from Antony Bridgeman was absolutely brilliant! What did you make of that? 
The comments from their forum, of winning 3-0, 4-0 and an easy £1500, we discussed before the game basically! So the lads were certainly in the right mood! And Bridgey, absolutely!   I was pleased with his first goal, because we keep telling him he’s so good in the air – and with a bit of movement he could score a lot of headers! So I was pleased with that, and the second…just outrageous really! As soon as its left his boot and it’s top corner, no chance for the keeper, an absolutely superb goal! 
The secret to success, was research on Ramsgate?
Well we knew a lot of their players, a lot of the boys, we’ve had 3 or 4 that played against at Carshalton in the Ryman Premier, so we knew a bit about them! And we knew if we could get their defenders turning, we’ve got lots of pace up there with Bridgey [Antony Bridgeman] and, you know, Harrison [Carnegie], Gabriel [Adesina] who are very quick, and their defenders are a bit lumpy to be honest! So we thought if we could get them turning, we’d have a good chance! So a bit of both really, a bit of research, a bit of luck, a bit of everything [laughs], but yes, thoroughly deserved. 
So we’re now in the first qualifying round, at home to East Preston or Gosport Borough! We haven’t been this far for over 30 years I believe! Are you confident we can progress after that?
We looked at the 3 games. 3 home draws in the FA Cup, and the level that we’ve got we have absolutely every chance! I think all the lads are pretty switched on for the competition this year! It’s going to be a tough game whoever it is. I’d have thought it would be Gosport, but you never know, and we are certainly a match for anybody up to level 5 all day. We can put in another good performance, and who knows we might have another good game to look forward to! 
Well, on behalf of me and our other 3 supporters, supposedly, thanks to you and the team – it’s been a fantastic day.
Well, the lads have enjoyed it and, again, thanks to everyone for making it an enjoyable game for them! Thank you!

[Kevin was interviewed by Matt Brown]

22 August, Kevin Rayner's post match interview (v Colliers Wood)