Molesley makes double signing
STRIKER AND MIDFIELDER JOIN NEW BOSS AT EBB STADIUM
MARK MOLESLEY has bolstered his Aldershot Town squad with two new signings.
Former Crystal Palace and Colchester United goalkeeper Callum Coulter, 20, arrives at the EBB Stadium on a permanent deal, while midfielder James Vennings, also 20, is a loan signing from Charlton Athletic.
Coulter, who was named on the Aldershot bench for Saturday’s game against Wrexham, will provide competition for Mitch Walker and Ryan Hall.
Coulter spent three years at Colchester, leaving in May, and is no stranger to a battle after being forced to take a year out of football aged 13 when he suffering serious injuries in a road accident, including breaking his skull in 12 places.
The accident, which happened while he was on the books at Palace, also affected his hearing and vision.
“I like to class myself a modern day goalkeeper,” said Coulter, who also spent time of loan at Isthmian
League side Maldon & Tiptree.
“I can play out from the back and with the ball at my feet I feel comfortable, also I have that ruthless side to me where if I need to make a save and come out and clatter someone, I can do that. An all-rounder I’d like to say.
“Healthy competition is needed in all aspects of team sports so [Aldershot’s goalkeepers] will be pushing each other. I will add another body into the mix and hope I can improve them as much as they improve me.”
Meanwhile, Vennings, who is a goalscoring central midfielder, made his Shots debut on Saturday, coming on as a half-time substitute for the injured Jayden Harris.
“I just wanted to get out and play men’s football,” said Vennings, who had previously featured for the Addicks youth teams.
“I’m a technical player, good on the ball. I like to receive the ball under pressure and try to play out as much as possible.
“[Mark Molesley] knows a few lads at Charlton and he knows my agent very well so he spoke to me about coming in, playing good football and taking the team forward.”
Vennings only got six minutes of action on Saturday against Wrexham before the game was suspended and then abandoned due to heavy rain and standing water on the EBB Stadium pitch.
Wrexham were 2-0 up at the point the National League fixture was abandoned.
The game will be replayed in due course and while Molesley understood the Welsh side’s frustrations, after a number of injuries in the first 50 minutes he felt it was the right decision.
“[Lewis] Kinsella flew past me but luckily my assistant broke his slide off the pitch otherwise he would have collided with the metal of the dugout,” Molesley said.
“It was unplayable and I feel for my counterpart because Wrexham had obviously got themselves a twogoal lead, caused by our own errors
– which is good, because that’s fixable.
“We have had to show a lot of resilience but for me, that was a really good training session.
“It was another chance for us to see the players and Wrexham posed a lot of questions of us.
“Ones we stood up to on the whole although a couple of times we were a bit sloppy in possession. We were masters of our own downfall a little at times.
“On the flipside we got into our rhythm at times and showed great potential, but we have to commit to that and believe in that.
“We have picked up two [injuries] ourselves which is frustrating and I have to feel sorry for [Wrexham] because they have picked up two bad injuries by the look of it.
“That’s because of miscontrols and a skiddy pitch. The right call was made at the end, but I feel sorry for my counterpart because they had got themselves into a lead and lost two valuable players.”