Canvey soccer boss Jeff King is well aware that his side's first-ever Nationwide Conference home game with visitors from Gravesend and Northfleet will be something of a needle affair tonight.
Happy days - Jeff King was happy with Canvey's goalles draw at Carlisle on Saturday and cannot wait to lock horns with old Ryman Premier rivals Gravesend tonight Picture: LUAN MARSHALL
The two teams battled tooth and nail for the Ryman title three seasons ago, but it was the Kent opposition who eventually won the crown and much-prized place in the Conference.
The two teams shared the honours on the pitch that term - Gravesend winning the infamous "floodlight failure" clash at Park Lane and Gulls emerging victorious in the return at the opposition's Stonebridge Road ground.
But old wounds were reopened at the end of last season, when Canvey clinched a Conference spot by winning the Ryman championship after three years as runners-up.
King was quoted as saying that, unlike when his side had been pipped by Farnborough and Aldershot for the top honour, his side had been the better team when Gravesend emerged triumphant.
King said: "I was the first to telephone Gravesend boss Andy Ford and congratulate him when they pipped us for the title.
"But what I said at the end of last season I stand by. I thought we were the better all round team then and if that upsets some people so be it."
Published Tuesday August 17, 2004
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