LES JONES feels Pershore Town have now got the firepower to push up the table after new signing Matt Pinder marked his debut with two goals.
It was perfect timing as Town finally recorded their first league win under Jones – and their second in the West Midlands League Premier Division campaign – on the day when Pershore held a special get-together to mark the club’s 30th anniversary.
The 2-1 win against high-flying Hereford Lads Club at the King George also injected a vital confidence boost in their bid to escape from the foot of the table.
Pinder, who joined from Malvern Town, struck twice inside 20 minutes. After a Sam Clarke effort was blocked, he fired home the first goal on five minutes and then doubled the lead from the penalty spot after fellow newcomer Luke Durbin was tugged back trying to get to Charles Appiah’s pass.
With Pershore six points from third-from-bottom Wem Town, Pershore need to be positive and, having lost Nick Seabourne to Coleshill Town after a short spell, Jones now feels they do have a match-winning goal threat.
“With Matt coming in, we’ve now got three players who can score goals in the side from forward positions,” said Jones. “We’ve got Matt, Sam Clarke and Ryan Pugh and they’re capable of getting on the scoresheet.
“We need to defend well, of course, but there are very few clean sheets in this league so we need players capable of putting the ball into the net.”
Jones admitted there was a sense of relief after getting his first league win since succeeding Paul Harris as boss in October and also a feeling that it was deserved.
“It was a big day for the club with the 30th anniversary of Pershore Town 88 being formed,” he said. “It was nice to see a few old faces down there and a good win gave everybody a lift. Lads Club were sixth but we deserved the points. We created chances and then we had to defend well when they put us under pressure in the second half.”
Jones admits the challenge does not get any easier on Saturday when they head to fourth-placed Wolverhampton Casuals but last weekend was a positive step in the right direction.
With Pinder and former Kidderminster Harriers academy player Durbin joining, Jones says he is now happy with the nucleus of the squad to push on.
Apart from Ryan Reeves, who remains an injury doubt, Pershore expect to have a near full-strength squad available to face Cassies.