Recruit Lawton making an impact

Aylesford hope new signing Mike Lawton will be the man to lead them to safety, writes Craig Tucker. They’re bottom of London 3 South East halfway through the season after drawing with Haywards Heath last Saturday. But Lawton has impressed in his brief time with the club and is key to their survival hopes. Coach Jay Jenkins said: “We’ve managed to recruit Mike Lawton at No.9 and he’s made a massive difference. “He’s an Army lad and an experienced player who’s brought maturity and leadership. He’s been the biggest positive this season.” Aylesford expected to be up against it this season after losing an entire backs division. They’ve battled on, using 46 players in 11 games, with seven academy players featuring in the 1st XV. With players returning from injury – James and Dan Batstone should be back next year – Bulls will only get better. Jenkins said: “We’ve had to change our objective given the problems we’ve had with injuries and recruitment. “Our sole aim now is to retain our status in this league – everything else is irrelevant. “We’re quietly confident but there’s a lot of work to do. “We’ve under-performed in a number of games but if we realise our potential when we play these teams again, there’s no reason why we can’t beat them, as long as we keep everyone together. “It’s going to be a long, hard slog to compete every week but a lot of the things we’ve been working on in training are starting to click.” Aylesford host Gillingham Anchorians at the Jack Williams Ground tomorrow (Saturday), their last game before Christmas.