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Sheppey United’s commitment to sports science is the secret behind their unbeaten start to the season.
The Ites have invested in GPS training vests to help fine-tune players’ fitness and it’s paying dividends.
Last week they scored twice in added time to win 4-3 at Southern Counties East title rivals Corinthian and on Saturday Billy Bennett’s 86th-minute goal earned a 3-2 comeback win over Beckenham.
They’re having to raise their game to preserve the final unbeaten record and fitness is helping them last the distance in matches.
“We’ve had a great start but we’re wary of becoming victims of our own success,” said head coach Marcel Nimani.
“We’re finding every team we play is a lot more competitive against us than the games we’ve scouted.
“It’s tricky because game after game it’s an exhausting experience getting the players at the highest level to sustain the unbeaten record.
“At the same time it motivates the players.
“We’ve noticed the stronger the opposition, and the more they try to provoke us, the further we push ourselves.
"Beckenham were a lot stronger compared to some of the games we scouted but at half-time we made a couple of adjustments and spoke about the intensity and we were a lot more competitive.
“It’s another late goal and that’s something we spoke about during pre-season, the ability to remain competitive for 90 minutes.
“We invested in GPS tracking vests to measure the intensity of training sessions and make sure we had adequate fitness. It’s paid off with a lot of late goals.
“We’ve got that sport science background on the management team.
“We spoke to Matt (Smith, chairman) and Ernie (Batten, manager) and explained the benefits we could get from the GPS. I’m a massive fan of sports science.
“We feel we’re able to work at the right intensity and progress in a way so the players don’t get fatigued and injured.
“We think it’s one of the reasons we’re doing well, because we’re getting the balance between fitness and match fitness.”
Danny Leonard gave Sheppey a third-minute lead against Beckenham but they trailed by half-time after goals from Harvey Brand and Tyrone Pink.
Connor Wilkins levelled after an hour and Bennett clinched the points to keep Sheppey fourth, two points behind leaders Chatham, with a game in hand.
Nimani said: “We’ve had a great start this season but so have four or five teams.
“There’s us, Chatham, Corinthian are a great side, Tunbridge Wells have recruited well and have a very strong management team and Hollands & Blair have invested well.”
Sheppey are in FA Vase first-round action at Sutton Athletic this Saturday.
The Ites have already beaten Athletic in the FA Cup this season but Nimani felt they were fortunate to progress.
“If I’m honest with you we were lucky to win,” he said.
“They outplayed us for a lot of the game.
“We have an idea what to expect this time and I’ve sent a friend to watch their last two games.
“We’ll go through phases of play, based on the opposition, at training on Thursday.”
