STONES READY FOR TITLE RIVALS HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE
STONES BOSS LOOKING FORWARD TO CLASH WITH RIVALS
WEALDSTONE boss Dean Brennan cannot wait for Saturday’s mouthwatering National League South clash at promotion rivals Havant & Waterlooville, saying “these are the games we want to be involved in”.
He saw his men put successive defeats behind them to beat Welling United 1-0 on Saturday thanks to a 27th-minute goal from Michee Efete.
It put the Stones eight points clear of Bath City at the summit of the table, but Havant lie menacingly in third and it promises to be a cracker.
“We look forward to Havant,” said Brennan. “It’s a great game. They are eight points behind us with three games in hand. They are ambitious and they want to go up. I’m looking forward to it. These are the games we want to be involved in.”
Brennan was pleased his side were able to forget about league defeats against Oxford City and Billericay Town which have trimmed their lead at the top, although it is still a healthy margin.
“I was a bit disappointed with the first half and I said that to the players,” added Brennan. “We could have been a bit more ruthless and more creative [and I expect that] because of the standards that we’ve set ourselves. We gave away too many sloppy free-kicks and without them [Welling] having many really clear-cut chances, I was disappointed about the balance of the team. But I thought in the second half we were excellent.
“To not score in the second half was disappointing as we had numerous chances with flashing balls across their six-yard box.
“But we scored a fantastic goal, it was excellent. There were a lot of passes and a lot of overloads.”
Teams are setting up with five at the back against the Stones and packing the midfield.
Brennan added: “We are starting to figure out how to break that down. It was great to get a victory and a clean sheet after two defeats.”
New signing Moses Emmanuel was brought in for his debut and Brennan said: “I know all about Mo. He’s an honest lad who leads by example.
“His movement is excellent and he wants to score goals.
“We haven’t scored enough in the last 10 games.
“I’ve no doubt Mo will be a success for us as he’s a top lad. He just needs to get a little bit sharper, a little bit fitter.”