Boss keen to close the ‘revolving door’
Windsor FC: Cooper wants a more settled squad to build on fine start
Windsor boss Mark Cooper hopes to bring an end to the revolving door of players coming and going in the coming weeks as he looks ahead to Saturday's clash with Spelthorne Sports, where a positive result would keep them in and around the challenge for promotion.
The Royalists had a break from the league on Saturday and enjoyed a thoroughly convincing 3-0 win over Kensington & Ealing Borough in the FA Vase.
It's a competition the Royalists have traditionally done well in over the years, but not since Cooper's been at the helm and that's something he's looking to rectify this season.
They led in the 16th minute through Ajanlekoko and doubled their advantage shortly after the interval through Excellence Muhemba's finish. A third followed from the penalty spot in the 95th minute from Lindell Stewart, after the visitors had been reduced to 10-men midway through the half.
“Yeah I thought we controlled the game from start to finish,” he said. “It was a hard fought victory though. They never stopped even towards the latter stages.
“What could have been a tricky tie we dealt with quite well. There were parts of the game where we could have been better but overall it was a pleasing performance and one that saw us keep a clean sheet. It’s an area of the pitch that’s let us down this season with the number of goals we’ve conceded and it’s not been easy. We lost both first choice centre backs from last season on the opening day and it’s been difficult. It's a competition that’s very important to the club.
“One that the club has always done pretty well in, but not since I’ve been at the club unfortunately,
so good to get a win and progress to the next round and have a good journey in it.”
He added: “Saturday will be another tough game.
“We’ve made a number of signings, and we’ve still got two that we’re trying to bring in. We want to bring an end to that if we can.
“Hopefully that will be the end of the revolving door, we can settle the squad down and start naming a regular 11 which will be a bit of a change for us.
“We go into the game full of confidence but we know it’s going to be a tough one.”
It's been another difficult week for Holyport FC as they were
dumped out of both the FA Vase and Berks & Bucks Senior Cup.
On Saturday they lost 1-0 to Broadfields United in the Vase before going out of the Senior Cup following a 2-1 defeat to Sandhurst Town.
Broadsfields’ skipper Sam Blennerhassett netted an 89th minute screamer on Saturday, leaving Port little time to recover while in the Senior Cup on Tuesday night, Sam Whitfield scored in the 41st minute to put Port in the ascendancy before Sandhurst levelled on the stroke of half-time. The home side grabbed a second in the 50th minute and held on despite late pressure from the visitors.