Harris: It will take time to for Pershore Town to settle - The Evesham Observer

Harris: It will take time to for Pershore Town to settle

Evesham Editorial 9th Aug, 2018   0

PAUL HARRIS says this weekend’s first home fixture of the new season will give Pershore Town a better indication of how they will fare in their first season in the West Midlands League Premier Division.

Observations that the Plums, who were switched across from the Midland League Division One in an FA restructuring, could not have wished for a tougher start to the campaign after being handed an opening-day trip to Malvern Town, one of the likely title contenders, proved accurate as the hosts earned a 3-0 win.

Harris, making his bow as manager after replacing Quentin Townsend, had no complaints about the effort and endeavour from his new-look team, particularly with skipper Dave Wilson and striker Phil Marsh missing, but Malvern, who finished third last season, were the slicker team and possessed a togetherness which comes from time on the pitch.

Dudley Town visit the King George Stadium on Saturday and, with the Robins having been in the bottom four in the past two seasons, Pershore will fancy their chances.




Wilson and Marsh, plus fellow striker Declan Juliff, all come into contention.

“Dudley Town will be a test to see how we fare. We knew it was going to be a very tough opener at Malvern – I think they will be up there pushing for the title.


“But it was hard to be disappointed with how we played. I couldn’t ask for any more from the players. The workrate was immense; they didn’t step running all game and they kept battling.

“You could see Malvern had been together for a while. My team has only been together for a couple of months but there are positives to build on.”

Jordan Hayward had an effort scrambled away as Pershore threatened early on against Malvern, but the hosts struck on 37 minutes with Matt Pinder taking Matt Turner’s pass and slotting his shot past keeper Toby Wilcox.

Harry Clark tucked home the second on 66 minutes from Louis Loader’s through-ball and Matthew Fusco beat the offside trap, rounded the ‘keeper and walked the ball home for 3-0 with 12 minutes.

Pershore were denied a goal late on when the unmarked Joe Barrett lost his footing at the crucial moment as he prepared to fire home.

Harris accepts it will take time to gel a new team — only two players remained from last season in the opening-day line-up — and he stressed patience will be key.

“We knew it would take time to find our feet,” said Harris.

“I would expect it would be a struggle to start with, especially with players missing. It’s a brand new team, a brand new coaching team but once we find our feet we will get stronger.”

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