Glos County Hanham chief confident of better times ahead
HANHAM Athletic chairman Bob Sperring says he has seen enough on and off the pitch to fill him with encouragement as they seek an elusive first win of 2020-21 tomorrow.
Accustomed to staving off the threat of relegation from the Marcliff Gloucestershire County League for the past seven seasons, Hanham, who host Ruardean Hill Rangers (3.30pm), have again had to confront challenges head on over the opening few weeks of their latest campaign.
Yet despite taking some heavy defeats firmly on the chin, not least the weekend’s 5-1 away mauling by a rejuvenated Bromley Heath United, Sperring insists he and his management team of Chris Strawford, Paul Dingley and, new appointee, Nick Wilson, have taken heart at securing points from 1-1 and 0-0 stalemates with high-riding Frampton United and Shirehampton, respectively.
The Vicarage Road outfit also held Broadwell Amateurs to a goalless draw on their travels in a recent Les James League Cup tie before bowing out on penalties.
“That was a great result at Frampton,” said Sperring, “and then in a somewhat cagey, cat and mouse game against Shire a week later we had a cracking chance near the end to snatch the win.
“Our heaviest defeat was at Sharpness – 5-0 – when we simply couldn’t cope with their route one tactics, an approach that differed much from Sharpness’ approach last year when they tended to work the ball through midfield more.
“We showed good character to come back from 1-0 down at Broadwell in the cup to make it 1-1 at half-time and go on to play a full part in a nip and tuck second half before penalties unfortunately didn’t go our way.”
Sperring conceded: “We can have few complaints about last Saturday’s defeat at Bromley. To be fair they came out of the blocks like greyhounds with new players on show that had clearly played at higher levels. The upshot was we were overrun in midfield to find ourselves 4-0 down at half-time before performing pretty well in the second half.
“Our main problem so far has been starting games too slowly and as we’ve found too often to our cost, do that and you can quickly find yourselves caught cold at this level and playing catch-up.
“We do, though, have a young side and it’s a case of sticking with it and remaining confident that it will all come together given more time and patience.”
Sperring highlighted an off-field revamp as a “major plus.”
“We’ve just spent £16,000 on clubhouse refurbishment and it’s all looking very impressive,” the Vicarage Road chief enthused.
“Of course times are hard and we, like everyone else, are trying our best to comply with all the Covid safety guidelines. Of course, having to shut everything up by 10pm on matchdays has drastically affected revenue streams.
“We’ve gone from stocking kegs of beer to supplying cans as kegs have a shelf life. Within a day our recycling bins are rammed!
“Pretty much everyone in the local game wonders when or if there’ll be another football shutdown. Hopefully it won’t happen but it is a worry.”
Unbeaten Patchway Town host Frampton in a mouthwatering Scott Park collision tomorrow. Another undefeated outfit, fourthplaced Wick, will dislodge opponents AEK Boco from top spot if a home win can be achieved.