The Sentinel

MOULTON IS EAGER TO TAKE MODD FORWARD TO BUILD ON KELSALL’S SOLID FOUNDATION­S

- Travers Moddershal­l & Oulton v Bagnall Norton

LEWIS Moulton’s reign as Moddershal­l & Oulton captain has made an impressive start - and he insists that is largely down to the work put in by predecesso­r Sam Kelsall.

Moulton took over the top job ahead of this season from the long-serving Kelsall and has seen his team nestle in sixth place in the NSSCL Premier Division table.

Their nine matches have yielded five wins as they prepare to entertain Bagnall Norton tomorrow.

“Sam gave us the nod at the back end of last season that he wanted to take a back seat and focus on family life,” said Moulton.

“He said to me last year if I could run the Sunday team in the cups and that gives you an added purpose in matches.

“When I spoke to the club over the winter, I was delighted to take on the job full-time. It was something I thought I had to try.

“It has it’s challenges and off the pitch you don’t always realise how much work goes on, but on the pitch it has been positive.

“Over the last few years Kels has spoken about promoting youth whenever we can, which we’ve done.

“There are young lads that play in the seconds and we have always stressed the point that if they come into the firsts they are not just there to make up the numbers.

“You have to give them a go and that is something we’ve tried to do.

“I have to credit Sam for the side we have at the moment. We’ve got a couple of new players this year, but it’s been about building over a number of years.”

The Modd men have found themselves in the lower reaches of the top-flight table at times in recent seasons.

However, Moulton says that he’s now looking to kick on and help the club to inch further up the Premier standings.

“We’ve talked abut not wanting to be a yo-yo club and we want to be a settled side in the top division,” added the 26-year-old.

“We’re pretty happy with how things have gone so far this season, although there are a couple of games where we might have won, when we didn’t.

“We have a young side still and it’s about finding that balance in the team.

“I’m trying to look forward as much as I can and it would be nice to be aiming for the top four and also have a decent cup run.”

And Moulton, who is part of the Staffordsh­ire developmen­t set-up, says he’s enjoying his time at the helm.

He admits, though, his job is helped by the experience­d players in the side.

“On the pitch it has been very positive and I do receive massive help from the lads,” he explained.

“We have the senior players like Sam, Dan Colclough and Dan Richardson - and they have been really helpful to me. It’s going well from my point of view, but it’s important that I know my limitation­s.

“I am still inexperien­ced as a captain and you’re not going to know everything - so you need those guys to get involved.”

Moulton is now targeting a sixth win of the campaign this weekend as the season heads towards the halfway mark of the summer schedule.

“Bagnall Norton have been a bit up and down at times, but on their day they have some very dangerous players,” said Moulton.

“We are just trying to be positive, though, whether that’s in pink or

red-ball cricket. It’s important to try to be aggressive and make sure we step up.

“This is a tough division, even more so considerin­g Hem Heath and Elworth came up from Division One for this season and are doing well.”

Bagnall Norton make the trip having won just two of their nine league matches.

They changed captain in the early stages with experience­d seamer Greg Willott taking over from Justin Mould, who stepped down for personal reasons.

Willott says it’s important that his side try to find some consistenc­y both in selection and performanc­es - moving forward.

“It’s not the start we wanted. But since I took over we’ve not had a settled side two weeks running,” said the 42-year-old.

“Moddershal­l & Oulton are in good form - the pro (Rizwan Hussain) is going well and Kels is getting a few as well.

“They’re playing really well as a unit and I just hope that our guys can get into the same kind of mould.

“At the moment we’re kind of in the same situation as a team like Burslem, who play well one week and then not so well the next.

“We know that we are better than that and we have to find a formula to go on a two or three-week winning run to take the pressure away.

“The dressing room is in good spirits, so it’s about finding that consistenc­y.”

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 ?? ?? TOP JOB: Moddershal­l & Oulton captain Lewis Moulton has praised the work done by his predecesso­r Sam Kelsall, left.
TOP JOB: Moddershal­l & Oulton captain Lewis Moulton has praised the work done by his predecesso­r Sam Kelsall, left.
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 ?? ?? LEADING THE WAY: Greg Willott took over as Bagnall Norton captain from Justin Mould, pictured below.
LEADING THE WAY: Greg Willott took over as Bagnall Norton captain from Justin Mould, pictured below.

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