WORTHING v
Tomorrow, Kick-off: 3pm
BRAINTREE TN
ANGELO HARROP can’t help but think back 12 months ahead of his Braintree Town returning to Worthing tomorrow afternoon.
In last year’s National League South Eliminator the Iron’s season came to an end as they fell 2-1 to the Rebels, who went onto the semis.
This year the two sides have gone further and meet in the final showdown with a place in the National League on the line.
But Harrop thinks a different Iron are turning up in Sussex this time.
“I always go back to last year,” Harrop says. “Maybe my lack of experience, I felt like I was managing more like a fan and using those emotions – talking about family and why we do this. It was too much.
“This year there is a different focus about the way we prepare. We’re a lot calmer, we’re a lot more focused on the job at hand. I firmly believe we can go all the way.”
A 1-0 extra-time win over Bath City in the Eliminator was followed up by a 3-2 extra-time win at Essex rivals Chelmsford City to book their place in tomorrow’s final.
Harrop believes those results show how his players have taken to their task. But this week has been about staying level-headed.
“Listen, my players are young, they’re going to be nervous,” Harrop says. “It’s my job to diffuse that and remember it is just one more game of football.
“I am trying to focus on how good we need to be.
Sometimes you can put fear into your players if you talk about how great the other team is.
“Obviously we will give them background on Worthing and we know them inside out because we’ve played them twice already.
“But, ultimately, it’s about what we do. Anyone who has watched our teams this year will know we work hard – in my opinion harder than any other team in the league, which is always tough to play against.”
Preparation has been meticulous this week. The team will travel down to their hotel this afternoon and get a coach together to Worthing’s ground. Since Thursday night it’s been full focus on the game itself.
“I made a big statement last night,” Harrop says on Friday morning. “The boys were talking about the tickets and things like that. I said, ‘After tonight, I don’t want to hear about tickets and all that outside noise. You’ve done your tickets, your families are coming, now
