EISA DOES IT FOR NEW SHREW
AS SOON as Abo Eisa had picked up the ball five yards outside his own box before slaloming his way to the other end to fire in a wonder goal, Wealdstone boss Bobby Wilkinson knew it might just be his last big contribution for the National League South side.
Clubs have been watching the Stones’ 21-year-old winger this season and his brilliant solo effort in last Saturday’s 2-1 win against Weston-super-Mare probably sealed the deal.
First he ghosted between two players on the left before cutting inside another and setting off toward goal where 22 yards out he unleashed a right-footed shot into the net.
On the final day of the January transfer window he joined League One high-flyers Shrewsbury on an 18-month deal.
“When he scored that goal, I turned around to my assistant Jamie Leacock and said: ‘This is his last game!’” Wilkinson said. “There’s been a lot of interest and we both knew. We said in the car on the way home, ‘If we’ve still got him after transfer deadline day, it will be a great achievement – but there’s no chance’.
“We work hard with these boys and you don’t want to see your best players go, but we’re not here to stop our best players going on in their careers.
“He sent me a beautiful message thanking the management team and everyone involved at the club.
“He deserves the move because behind the scenes he’s worked extremely hard.
“We’ve done extra work with him, my coaches have stayed behind to help him, we’ve guided him on keeping his shape and tracking back and getting him to do the dirty side of the game.
“I was more proud he ran back 30 or 40 yards to get the ball before he showed his magic to score that goal.”
Eisa joined Wealdstone in the summer from Uxbridge where he had scored 19 goals while studying a degree in Biomedical Science at Brunel University.
Wealdstone hoped to strike a deal where Eisa would stay on loan for a period of time but Shrews boss Paul Hurst, who won promotions in Non-League as manager with the likes of Ilkeston Town, Boston United and Grimsby Town, wanted him immediately.
“I like what they’re doing and can definitely understand why Abo chose to go there,” said Wilkinson, who has taken the club from third bottom to five points outside the play-offs since taking over from Gordon Bartlett earlier this season.
“I’ve told him to train harder than ever, be the first one there for training and the last one to leave.”