HODGES TRUE TO 5-STAR TRURO!
Five in a row for City
LEE HODGES remembers the moment he knew his Truro City would be alright in the National League South this season – they’d just been stuffed 6-0 in their final pre-season game by Torquay United!
A 1-0 win against Chippenham Town on Tuesday night made it five National League South wins in a row for Hodges’ White Tigers.
It also moved them up to second in the table as one of three teams level on points with leaders Dartford.
Hodges and his assistant Chris Todd made sweeping changes to the squad in the summer after the club finished one place above the relegation zone last season – and it’s paid off so far.
“Amazing turnaround,” Hodges told The NLP. “I released seven or eight and a few of the fans’ favourites. It’s very difficult when you do that. “What Chris Todd and I didn’t do was rush to bring players in. We went and watched a few pre-season games and slowly took our time to get players in. It’s not easy getting them into Truro always with where we are located, but we were chuffed to bits when we got them all. “I never forget the night of our final pre-season game at Torquay. We fell apart and lost 6-0. I still said to the boys, ‘Don’t worry, we’re going to be alright, I know it!’ I don’t think they felt that at the time but I was really pleased with the squad we’d got and I just felt we’re going to compete with the level we’re at.
“When I came in last season it was a case of, ‘That’s your team, get on with it’. We knew from the start it would be hard to stay up but we did it. It was a bit helter-skelter at the end but we asked for the opportunity to make changes and the chairman (Pete Masters) has been brilliant. So far the boys have worked really hard. They’ve been unbelievable.”
The run of five league wins on the bounce ahead of the FA Cup this weekend came on the back of three consecutive defeats. Hodges praised his side’s character and the fact they all knew not to panic.
“We did have a blip where we lost three in a row,” he added. “People say to me, ‘What have you changed?’ Nothing! We played alright in those games. It’s just the league we’re in, if you don’t stick your chances away you will get punished.
“The boys got their heads around it very quickly, they knew we weren’t performing badly but perhaps we weren’t getting the rub of the green. There wasn’t a lot wrong.
“Don’t get me wrong, if anyone came to watch us against Havant, we touched the ball twice and won 2-1. So it does work the other way.
“But we’re now giving ourselves a chance in every game. To win five in a row is some going.”