THERE is no love lost between Sittingbourne and the Leatherhead manager Richard Brady.
The players and fans took great delight in rubbing the former Brickies boss' nose in it as the Kent side, reduced to ten men, came and took all three points from their trip to Fetcham Grove on Tuesday night.
"It was like their cup final," said Brady.
The way they celebrated after the 1-0 win, you would have thought it was a cup final.
Alas, it was just a Ryman League Division One South match and only worth three points, but it meant so much more to the players and fans that Brady left behind.
Current Brickies boss Jim Ward apologised for his players' "antics" as he entered the Leatherhead boardroom afterwards. Brady revealed that he knew it was going to happen, and had warned his players about it.
He said: "We were aware of that, I prepped the boys for exactly what was going to happen and that's what unfolded, we got reports on them we know what they're about and they don't make any bones about what they're about.
"It depends what you want to do, whether you want to move on and try and play football and improve or not and they're not in the business of that, they just want to get a result and I don't think they're too interested in how they do it.
"I told the boys beforehand what they were about and that they were going to try and wind us up and get us sent off. They've come and done what they wanted to do and they're as happy as Larry. We went down to their level, we never really passed the ball with any conviction or quality and the boys have put their hands up and apologised.
"I told the boys exactly what was going to happen, that's how they are, banging on doors, running around doing Klinsmanns and stuff, that's just a sign of respect of where they think they are compared to us and how happy they are they've got three points."
Brady described the match as "rubbish" and would have been happy to come out of it with a 0-0, saying it was probably "a game too far".
He said: "We've got to be so much better than that. They caught us on an off day, we looked really lethargic and tired, we didn't pass the ball with any zest, we didn't have any energy and this was one game too much for them.
"I was quite disappointed with the first half display and even more disappointed with the second half display, but I'm not going to have a go at the boys because we've been on a hell of a run.
"You think you're going to go away with a 0-0 and it was rubbish, it was awful, but you've got a point, instead we've got nothing."
