Margate manager Reece Prestedge won’t underestimate struggling Isthmian Premier weekend opponents Potters Bar Town ahead of Hartsdown Park game
Published: 05:00, 06 September 2023
Updated: 08:00, 06 September 2023
Reece Prestedge insists Margate won’t underestimate Isthmian Premier visitors Potters Bar this Saturday.
Gate will look to build upon their FA Cup comeback victory at Hendon as they host the early-season strugglers who are without a point from their opening five games and were knocked out of the FA Cup by division rivals Enfield Town.
But Potters Bar have experienced keeper Preston Edwards, formerly of Ebbsfleet and Dover, and ex-Peterborough midfielder Jermaine Anderson in their squad.
Manager Prestedge said: “I gather they’re going to be very hard to beat, they’re going to need some points somewhere.
“There’s no easy rides in this league - regardless of where the opposition are. We have got to be on top of our game.”
Margate struck three times in seven second-half minutes to come from behind to beat Southern Premier South side Hendon 3-2 last weekend.
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“Hendon was always going to be a tough game,” Prestedge reflected.
“It was just pleasing that we got the result I think we deserved in the end.
“First half, I would say they were the better team. But we had a good 10 minutes towards the end of the first half. We sort of kept that going into the second half.
“It was nice to have a seven-minute spell where we went bang, bang, bang with the goals.”
That spell coincided with teenage midfielder Fyn Rutherford, one of the scorers, coming off the bench.
“Fyn did really well,” said Prestedge, who also saw captain Sam Blackman and striker Steve Cawley score.
“I played him in a position that he doesn’t normally play.
“But he got involved in the game straight away and - of course - scored.”
Margate have been drawn at home to Folkestone in the Second Qualifying Round of the FA Cup on September 16 but were dealt a fitness blow at Hendon, midfielder Leo Mazzone hobbling off with a pulled hamstring.
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