Festus strengthens Bentley’s backline
JIM Bentley has bolstered his backline options with the loan signing of former Stockport County defender Festus Arthur.
The 22-year-old has signed a one-month loan contract, joining the Sandgrounders from National League outfit Halifax Town.
Born in Hamburg, the centre back came through the Oldham Athletic Academy before joining Stockport County in 2019.
Arthur made 35 appearances for the Hatters during the 2019/20 season, scoring two goals, one of which came against the Shaymen.
As a result of his good performances for Stockport, Arthur was named as the Grahame White Young Player of the Year and George Haigh Young Player of the Year.
Arthur then made the move to Hull, signing a three-year deal.
The defender made two appearances in his first season with the club, both coming in the EFL Trophy, before spending the first half of last season out on loan with Barrow in League Two, making 15 appearances in all competitions, scoring once, before being recalled in January.
He is expected to come into the reckoning for Bentley in Saturday’s National League North trip to Warrington Town.
Port had been scheduled to be in action in midweek, but their Lancashire Trophy clash against Bacup Borough fell victim to the wintry conditions.
The postponement denied Bentley’s side the opportunity to build on the momentum gathered from their last two games, which had yielded a welcome return of four points.
Having previously lost six games in all competitions, the 2-2 draw agaunst Gloucester City – when Port came from two goals down with just minutes to play to snatch a last-gasp draw – and then last week’s 2-0 home win against Darlington had signalled a turnaround in form.
And Bentley praised the club’s supporters and his players for playing their part.
“It’s all well and good getting behind the players when we’re on a good run – which we’ve had – but when you’ve had a couple of iffy results, that’s when you need your supporters and I thought they were great, they got right behind us,” he said after the win against Darlington.
“It was a big game. We got the point on Saturday and it makes it look better when you get three at home.
“I’ve said all along that teams have identities of maybe just being Route One or total football. I want us to be quite rounded and I think we’re seeing evidence of that. It’s not going to just happen overnight, it takes time. We’ve got a couple of players in who have helped us and we’ve proven that we’re good on the counter attack.
“We’re good on final throw-ins, I think we’re good on set plays and we’ve got some routines that we keep getting in with. I think we can come up a little bit on our play – I don’t think we we anticipate things and get the flick ons.
“But what we’ve got now is more control between the two 18-yard boxes. The first goal came from that. We started quite well we got control of the game and we had nice movement down the left side, got in and obviously we got the goal.
“Darlington have got some good players, loads of experience, and that was proven on the night. You could see they were drilled, they’ve got decent enough players and after the win they’d had on Saturday, they were going to be cock-a-hoop coming here that they could make it six points from the last two games.
“They did have spells of possession there were a couple of one-twos down the sides and crosses without testing Chris Renshaw. There was a bit of a hairy moment with a scramble and a couple of blocks but our defensive shape was quite good. We did the basics better, we were bringing it down, marking men not spaces, worked hard to stop crosses and cleared our lines a lot better.
“So I’m really pleased for the lads at the back who have obviously conceded a few goals to go and get a clean sheet. It was a bit more like us, we can do better, we know that, but it was a big big win for us.
“Danny Philiskirk has come in and he’s gone from strength to strength every game. It’s no coincidence with Philly in the side that suddenly we were dominating possession. He’s a top professional, plugs gaps, lands on things. He’s very clever, he has know-how and leadership qualities so although we’ve lost a few games I think he’s actually played quite well.
“Richie Bennett, to be fair to him, when he first came to the club was excellent and then he had a spell um and then there was an illness knocking around the squad around Chesterfield, I had a bit of an illness and never felt the same since. I spoke to Richie the other day and he said he’d just not felt felt right, so that was one of the reasons for his dip and for leaving him out of the team on Saturday. Sometimes that happens, they come out of the side and then go back in and suddenly they get a goal.
“He’s got three in two so it’s pleasing for him. He seems to be feeling better within himself and there’s been a few like that, everyone’s the same. In the changing rooms everyone’s coughing and spluttering – it’s that time of year I’ve been the same. Chesterfield wasn’t right and then I probably had two illnesses since, colds and headache and not feeling right.
“Richie was full of running, he was a handful and got his goals really well. That’s what we bring them in to do but we need everyone pulling in the *right direction.”
And Bentley reserved special mention for Finn Heath, who shone after a spell on the sidelines.
“I’ve got a lot of faith in Finn,” he said. “When I first came to the club he played my first game at Hereford. He’s a young lad who’s never played at the level having come from an Academy. He’s a likeable lad, he trains well, gets on with things.
“I can’t keep everyone happy, so he’s come into the squad against Darlington and he’s the future. He will get better, he’s a good size, gets around the pitch, tackles. It means something to him.
“Finn’s all right, he’ll do okay so we’ve just got to manage him right, make sure we do what’s needed with him. He’s got loads to learn, just some tactical things with him but there’s no doubting his endeavour and his enthusiasm and desire as well.”