MARK’S STILL GOT A TERRAS VISION
MARK MOLESLEY says the unity in his Weymouth squad could prove to be the decisive factor in helping the Terras finally make the leap out of Step 3.
Weymouth have played Southern League football for the past eight years after suffering back-toback relegations between 2008 and 2010.
They came within a whisker of going up last season, amassing 97 points in the Premier division only to miss out in the play-off semi-finals to King’s Lynn Town.
Now, though, Molesley has steered his side back to the top of the new-look Southern League South table, and believes he finally has the tools to finish the job.
“There is a real feel good factor around the club at the moment and it is great to see the crowds coming back and enjoying watching us play again” the former Bournemouth and Aldershot midfielder, below, told The NLP.
“A key objective of ours over the summer was to try and keep the nucleus of the squad together because to get 97 points in this division last season was a really great achievement.
“I am delighted that we have been able to keep hold of virtually the whole group and that has allowed us to play with a high degree of consistency over the last few weeks.
“I think the average age of our team is about 23 but we are older and wiser than we were last season and the players know most of each other inside out.”
The Terras have netted an impressive 19 times in their first six league games with star striker Brandon Goodship continuing his lethal form of last season by bagging eight of those.
And Molesley admits that he has plenty to thank the former Yeovil Town striker for.
“There is no doubting that Brandon has an absolutely phenomenal strike rate, he is a brilliant finisher but he also creates a lot of goals for us,” Molesley added.
“I think if you look at the assists chart he would certainly be near the top of that as well.
“At the same time though it is important not to single out one player too much because the whole squad deserve recognition.
“Brandon takes the headlines a lot of the time but he wouldn’t be able to if it wasn’t for the hard work of his team mates.”
Molesley combines his job at Weymouth with as a coaching role at AFC Bournemouth and the former midfielder believes that the lessons he has learned during his time with the Premier League Cherries, under his former team-mate Eddie Howe, will hold him in good stead.
“I’ve learned so much at Bournmouth. I am fortunate to be able to work with some great people there who have really influenced me,” he went on.
“Now I have been given a chance to stand on my own two feet and put a lot of what I have learned into practice, whilst at the same time trying to build my reputation as a manager.
“I have always had the feeling that Weymouth are a bit of a sleeping giant at this level and I am really excited at the potential prospect of bringing success back to this great club.
“We can’t let ourselves get carried away though because we are only four games into the season but the signs are good. We’ve just got to keep working hard on the pitch and we’ll see what happens.”