MALBON AIMS TO GET OVER THE LINE

ANTHONY Malbon wants to use the pain of missing out on promotion with Kidderminster Harriers to push his new side Hanley Town over the line and win the Midlands Football League Premier Division title.

Malbon was part of the Harriers squad that narrowly missed out on the Blue Square Premier title to Mansfield Town on the final day of the 2012/13 season.

Now nearly a decade on he wants to ensure he doesn’t feel the heartbreak again with Hanley.

“It’s a new feeling going into games needing to win to get the promotion,” the 30-year-old told The NLP.

“The only ever time I’ve experienced it was with Kidderminster Harriers, and I was at the other end of it when we ended up not coming out on top.

“I want to use that experience of coming second and not going up and use it in the last seven games to get us promoted.

“Hanley Town have done all that work, all those players have performed for the last 30 or so games, but now it’s business time, those points mean nothing if you don’t get the points in the last seven games. That is what I’m saying.

“Whether I make an impact in one game or all seven. It’s a different pressure, you were winning games to get to the top, now you’re winning games to stay top and, a lot of those players haven’t been in that situation.

“Like I say I have, and we didn’t get over the line and that is something that bugs me, but if I can come in here and keep being involved in the last few games and keep scoring to get them up, then it eases the burden of what happened with Kidderminster.”

Malbon joins Hanley from Northern Premier League side Kidsgrove Athletic, where he has spent the last seven years. In that time, the former Leek Town and Newcastle Town front man became Grove’s all-time top goalscorer, notching 159 times.

Last Saturday, he bagged his first goal for his new side as he scored the only goal of the game as Hanley beat Lichfield City to secure three precious points in their bid for Step 4 status for the first time in their history, under Carl Dickinson.

Malbon added: “Looking back at it, I didn’t realise the skill that Josh Green did for the goal. I appreciated it at the time, but on reflection, it’s unbelievable.

“When you go into a new club it helps settle you down straight away if you can get a goal and it was the winning goal, it was a good team goal in an important game and, with the circumstances of them losing on Tuesday night it was a massive goal in the season and, that is all I can ask for.”