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Tommie Fagg has dealt with his nerves going into Ashford’s Isthmian South East play-off final and knows he couldn’t be in better hands.
Fagg was feeling it before the Nuts & Bolts’ semi-final victory over Cray Valley on Tuesday night, describing it as the biggest game he’s played in.
But that experience will stand him in good stead when United meet Herne Bay in a promotion decider at Homelands on Saturday (3pm).
“The nerves were hitting straight away,” said Fagg. “I was all right once I was on the pitch but it was probably the biggest game I’ve played in, and that goes for a few of the boys.
“But we’ve done it now, we know what it’s like, we’ve had the nerves and now in the final we’ve just got to go out and do exactly the same as we did in the semi-final and stick to the gameplan.
“We’ve done well against the top five all season and on our day we’ll beat anyone.
“Coming off the back of the semi-final, the boys will be positive, we’ll come in on Thursday and do our shape and be ready.
“We’re going for the win but we know how we’re going to win as well.”
It’s been a funny season for Fagg, who’s been tipped to play in the Football League by boss Tommy Warrilow.
He’s scored 11 goals, including an opening-day hat-trick, but there’s also been three red cards and seven weeks out with a hamstring injury.
With the help and guidance of Warrilow and assistant boss Alex O’Brien, the forward is determined to finish on a high.
“I’ve had a bit of a dodgy season so it’s nice to come back and be part of this,” said Fagg. “I’m proud of the boys - they’ve worked so hard.
“That third red card ruined me, it was hard getting back into it but I’ve been training hard.
“The management know what to do, they’ve been training me, their personal management skills are unbelievable and I’m back and ready.
“My fitness isn’t quite there yet but I did 90 minutes in the semi-final. The last 10 were hard but I know it’s just a mental game and I can get through that.
“The boys feel comfortable around Tom, he speaks the truth and that’s how we like it.
“We know how to beat any team and he looks after everyone very well and he knows how to get the best out of everyone, and that’s what he’s going to do on Saturday.
“He’s relaxed, that’s the good thing. He doesn’t panic, he doesn’t raise his voice at anyone, he’s calm, he’s collected, and it's nice for us.
“We haven’t got to stress, we haven’t got to panic and as a team we know what we’ve got to do as well.”
Fagg set up Ashford’s early winner against Cray Valley on Tuesday night, resisting the chance to shoot and instead squaring for Jay May.
It proved enough to see off the Millers, who pushed hard in the second half but couldn’t break down the home defence.
“I did think about shooting, to be fair,” said Fagg.
“The near post was open but then I saw Jay and I was like, ‘no mistakes here,’ so I played him in and he finished it well. That’s bread and butter to Jay.
“First half, we knew the areas in behind were open, that was our gameplan, we knew they tuck in tight in the midfield, so we knew our outlets were wide.
“We got our goal and then we knew we had to tuck in and watch out for the midfield.
"They’re tricky, they knew what they were doing, they could get at us, they were quick, they knew how to counter-attack, but we sat in deep and knew how to work against it.
“They had some some quick feet and we knew if we could get that under control, the game would be ours, and that’s what we did. We worked hard and got our rewards.”
