Hellenic/Toolstation Rees confident Thornbury will be top-four challengers
THORNBURY Town manager Jason Rees weighed up his team’s potential in the new Hellenic League Division One West race for supremacy and announced: “A top-four finish has to be the target again.”
Thorns were firmly in contention for a place in the top four last term, one that promised to clinch them a place in the Premier Division had they taken advantage of a raft of games in hand.
How the Mundy Fields battlers would have fared in their bold quest for top-tier status over the remaining weeks, no one will ever know, as the coronavirus crisis forced football lockdown.
With Rees and trusty No 2 Gary Kemp at the helm once more, Thorns have had to bite the bullet and start all over again.
On early showings they have every reason to be optimistic, as a 3-0 first-day win at Clanfield, and back-to-back draws with Hereford Lads Club and Malmesbury Victoria, suggest. A 3-0 away success over Division One East outfit Abingdon Town in last weekend’s FA Vase tie offered a further boost.
“Things are looking okay at the moment,” Rees reflected. “Games are coming thick and fast and we’ll enjoy it while we can.
“We had a good pre-season and strengthened in key areas, at the back and in midfield, and we have to be pushing, like last year, for the top four, all of which offered promotion places.
“From what I know the FA is standing by the pyramid changes it had planned for last season so hopefully that won’t change.”
Rees and Co have been boosted by the return of last season’s injuryhit defenders Nathan Sage and Joe Guest, while fellow back man and club captain Pete Fowler is in business again too and “leading by example”.
Former Cribbs trio James Derosa, back on familiar Mundys soil; fellow central midfielder Harry Walton and towering, pacy striker Elliot Gardner are among a new contingent which also contains Bath City’s 17-year-old goalkeeper Mackenzie Welsh, who featured effectively as an understudy to injured Kurtis Parkin before the regular incumbent returned for the Vase win. Port Talbot Town forward Ben Ryan is also set to sign after moving to Bristol.
Rees, whose ambitious team entertain Shortwood United for a first round Bluefin Challenge Cup tie tomorrow, said: “Every team in our league has strengthened but Malvern Town have to be favourites for the league.
“It’s just disappointing that we weren’t pulled out of the hat for an FA Cup place this year,” mused the Thorns leader, whose club are trying to raise £10,000 in lost revenue, a result of the coronavirus impact, through a Crowdfunder appeal. Closing date for donations is October 8.
Local rivals Tytherington Rocks, meantime, have for so long been dubbed Hellenic Division One West’s whipping boys and with good reason.
Now, after a challenging yet more encouraging 2019-20, manager David Doe is “confident but cautious” that progression can continue, despite the “shock” resignation of chairman James Eveleigh, who was also ladies manager, in June having only been in the position since December.
Rocks kicked off their new campaign confidently enough, with a 4-2 away defeat of Cirencester Town Development, before the setback of a 4-0 home humbling by Clanfield preceded more battling efforts in defeat by hosts Longlevens, on penalties in the FA Vase following a 3-3 draw, and Hereford Lads club, 1-0, after a close-fought Tuesday night test this week.
Doe, whose men entertain Hartpury University for a Challenge Cup opener tomorrow, maintained: “We rose to the challenge of some competitive pre-season games really well and took that into a very heartening first-day win at Cirencester.
“I’ve put down the disappointing second game against Clanfield as a learning experience; I hold my hands up because I didn’t get it right as a manager and I couldn’t fault the players. This season we’ve decided to go back to running with one senior squad of around 25 players and no reserves. We’re trying to adopt a professional approach where everyone is targeting first-team places.
“We have a stronger squad now, I’m confident of that. It’s a squad packed with youngsters and the future is bright for some of them as they’re prepared to listen and learn and to play the right way.”
In the Toolstation Western League, Hallen take the 120-mile trek to Tavistock still seeking a first Premier Division victory after six attempts, yet lifted by Rob Latham’s stoppage-time strike to rescue a point from a 2-2 home draw with Keynsham Town on Tuesday night.
Former Patchway Town manager Dean Horseman took up the Hallen reins, having served as No 2 to boss Ray Johnston before he and club parted “by mutual consent” in the aftermath of the weekend’s 2-1 away defeat by Bridgwater Town. Hallen chairman Lee Fairman stated: “We want to go in a different direction as results have not been good enough since the start of the season. As things stand Dean has been put in charge as interim manager and we will go from there.”
There was Wednesday night heartbreak for Bitton as, after twice leading away to local rivals Larkhall Athletic, they were pipped 3-2 by a Alex Lambert’s stoppage-time strike to fall out of this season’s FA Cup competition at the first qualifying stage. Near neighbours Cadbury Heath went down 4-2 at home to Bradford in the Prem.
In a pulsating First Division game at Oaklands Park, also on Wednesday night, Ashton & Backwell United climbed above Lebeq United into top spot with a dramatic 3-2 victory, courtesy of Saul Jarrett’s last-minute goal, which secured a fourth league win on the spin.