QUENTIN TOWNSEND feels Pershore Town have ‘turned the corner’, thanks to their match-winners finally clicking.
Town followed Saturday’s 4-2 win at Stafford Town with a 9-1 walloping of outclassed visitors Tenbury United in the Smedley Crooke Memorial Charity Cup on Tuesday.
It meant four wins out of five for Townsend’s men, who look to continue the momentum on their trip to Bolehall Swifts in Midland League Division One on Saturday.
Townsend says there is no secret to the upturn in form, rather an alignment of several factors, most notably the return to action of Louis Bridge after 17 months on the sidelines, the arrival of former Redditch and Evesham midfielder Danny Scheppel and a full squad which had finally allowed Pershore to play the way their manager had planned since pre-season.
“I’m now able to play the formation I always wanted to play,” said Townsend. “We can play 4-2-3-1, which is a formation which served me so well at Southam when we did so well.
“I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the upturn in results has come with Louis coming into the starting XI. He’s still only 70 per cent fit as he comes back from his cruciate ligament injury but he has given us that spark.
“We’ve also got Danny to play a holding role and his experience and know-how are perfectly suited to that role. He plays the right ball 90 per cent of the time and that allows our match-winners to make a difference.
“Will Gayton has got six or seven goals in four matches, Jamie Clarke has ten goals and is among the top scorers in the league, Sean Cooke is starting to flourish, Louis is creating chances and scoring goals and Gaz Evans came into the side against Tenbury after three weeks out and scored a hat-trick.
“Now we’ve got to keep the momentum going.”
Gayton and Evans both scored hat-tricks against Tenbury, with Bridges, Clarke and Ollie Casey also netting, while Clarke had bagged two at Stafford, with Gayton and Cooke also on target.
While Herefordshire League side Tenbury trailed 5-0 at half time, Pershore were equally ruthless at Stafford, having the game won inside 25 minutes to open a 4-0 lead.
Townsend added: “I’ve known what we’ve had in our locker. I’ve just had to wait for it to come out on the pitch.
“We’ve got something to build on and we’ll got to Bolehall feeling confident that we can got there and come away with a win.”
Although both Scheppel and Shaun Griffiths came off at half time against Tenbury, they will be fit for the trip to Rene Road.
