Farnham Town 2, Hanworth Villa 3

FARNHAM Town have bowed out of two cup competitions in the space of four days – but it may prove to be a blessing in disguise.

Luke Turkington’s charges were beaten 6-0 in their attempt at a giantkilling in the FA Vase at Beckenham Town last Saturday before going down 3-2 on Tuesday night in the first round of the Southern Combination Cup to Hanworth Villa at the Memorial Ground.

But while a touch disappointing on both counts, especially the Vase, it more or less leaves the way clear for Town to concentrate their efforts on winning promotion from Division One of the Combined Counties League.

“I’ve always said that the cups are not our priority,” said Turkington.

“The league is what we are focusing on and the cups are bonuses. The pressure is on to get us where we need to be next year.

“I don’t want to palm off the cups as an extra game, far from it, we always want to win everything, but our focus is on the league. I want to have something to cheer about at the end of this season and hopefully it will be promotion.”

Both cup defeats certainly need to be put in context, with Beckenham Town and Hanworth Villa plying their trade in step five of the non-league system, although Town have claimed one scalp from that level this season with their FA Vase win over Langney Wanderers while they gave Fleet Town a massive fright in the FA Cup after two keenly-fought games.

“Last night was a strong reality check,” said Turkington, who saw his side go 3-0 down before two late goals from former Alton Town boss Mark Corbett brought both respectability to the scoreline and gave Town some momentum heading into the top-of-the-table league clash against British Airways on Saturday.

“We always knew last year that we could compete. We are buoyant that we have toppled one step five team this season and come close against other teams, but for me personally it’s a reality check that we are a step away from actually just competing at a reasonable level at the level above us.

“We shouldn’t be too despondent but I know how much work we have got to do to maintain our place in a higher league if we are to get there next season.

“If we do get up to the next level, we will have to work even harder to get the right players in to try to stabilise the club at that level.”

To get there, Town must continue their decent league form as they seek a third win on the trot after a 7-0 thumping of Cove and a tidy 3-1 win at home to Westside in September.

Standing in their way are fourth-placed British Airways, who sit one place behind Farnham having played two more games.

“We’re hoping to push BA a little bit further away from us,” said Turkington ahead of Saturday’s clash at the Memorial Ground.

“British Airways are stronger than last year, they have proved that already. We had two good results against them last season home and away, but that was last year and this is a new year. We can’t just rest on our laurels because of what we did last year, we have to earn the right to win and we’ll be putting that message across to the boys quite firmly.

“It’s third versus fourth, it’s going to be a tight game, and we’ll be telling the lads we have to win this game.”

Turkington will again be without midfield general and skipper Jacob McDonald but will welcome back full back Jack Mitchell, who has missed the past two games.

Town are also expected to have key Army trio Mo Sabo, Jack May and Matt Glass back in the squad for the British Airways game after all three missed the midweek cup defeat against Hanworth Villa.

Saturday’s game at the Memorial Ground kicks off at 3pm.