INTERVIEW: Roger Herridge calls for Binfield FC improvement ahead of FA Cup clash

ROGER HERRIDGE says Binfield must raise their game if they want to progress in the FA Cup on Saturday.

The Moles edged past Farnham Town, who compete at a step below Herridge’s men in the league pyramid, 2-1 in the extra preliminary round earlier this month and required a 93rd minute Ian Davies winner to beat Holmer Green 1-0 in the Hellenic Premier Division at the weekend.

Binfield host Wessex League side Brockenhurst in the FA Cup at Hill Farm Lane on Saturday (3pm), looking to book a spot in the first qualifying round where sides from higher leagues begin to enter.

And Herridge says his team have to improve on their recent showings.

“It was a good result on Saturday against Holmer Green, but an average performance really,” the Binfield boss told The Wokingham Paper.

“I certainly think there’s an awful lot more to come from us. We haven’t really hit our straps yet.

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Wedding fair to be held in Binfield this weekend

“We came through last Saturday in the FA Cup and also against Holmer.

“Both games we did in the end just enough to win. But we’ve got a few more gears to go through to get to the level where we want to be.

“Give it a few weeks and nobody looks at the performance, they just look at the result.

“Three points and a clean sheet and we move on, but we’ll play better than we did on Saturday and get beat. We certainly need to improve.”

Brockenhurst overcame league rivals Christchurch in a replay to set up their clash with Binfield and Herridge made the trip to Hampshire on Tuesday night to watch an under-strength Brock lose 3-0 to Sholing in the Hampshire Senior Cup.

But fortunately Herridge had other men on hand to pass on some information about the players he is likely to come up against.

“We had them watched last week and the information we got back was they were a good side,” he said.

“I’ve spoken to Danny Robinson at Thatcham because he’s got a real knowledge of teams in that league from his days when he was manager at Alresford Town, so he gave me a little bit of information on players.

“It’s certainly going to be a tough game.

“I think they probably went away from watching us on Saturday with a smile on their face. We’ll look a little bit different this Saturday I would think, but they’re a good side and we’ll certainly have to play far better than we did on Saturday if we’re going to get a result.

“They’re coming to us so it’s certainly a game I believe if we play as well as we can, we shouldn’t have any fears and it’s a game we’d be confident of coming through.”

As well as a potentially exciting draw in the following round, £2,890 is up for grabs for the winner of Saturday’s clash.

And while Herridge says that would not directly impact on his job, he admits there is a little more riding on this game than a regular league match.

“It makes a real difference,” said the Moles manager.

Herridge celebrates with chairman Bob Bacon after winning a first piece of silverware as Binfield boss last season

“If you can win a couple of games in the Vase and a couple of games in the FA Cup, all of a sudden you’ve got another £10,000 in your club coffers.

“At the end of the day it doesn’t affect my playing budget, but you can’t run a club at this level on fresh air.

“People work hard to keep the club going. You need to win a little bit of money to be honest.

“There’s a little bit of added pressure because you want to win money for the club.

“I think the FA have raised the rewards this year so it would be nice to earn as much out of it as we can really.”

He added: “A side at our level is going to be lucky to go through more than three or four rounds in the FA Cup.

“But I’d certainly like to go through two or three, that’s for sure.

“It’s exciting. The FA Cup and the Vase, you can go on a little journey and build a good team spirit.

“In the FA Cup you have opportunities to play teams from a higher level which is certainly something we’ll be looking forward to if we win on Saturday.

“We’ll be in the hat for the draw on the Monday and hopefully we’ll get a side from a league or two above, get them down to Hill Farm Lane and hopefully get a good crowd and it’ll be a good afternoon.”