Craig Elliott hopes the recent budget cut won’t hinder the progress that Ossett Town have made this season in the Evo Stik Division One North
Craig Elliott has admitted that Ossett Town were struggling to field a side in the controversial 1-1 draw at Farsley AFC on Saturday, writes James Grayson (Twitter: @jamesAgrayson).
A budget cut, which was announced two weeks ago, has ripped a hole in his team and Elliott even had to persuade well-known defender Lee Connor to come out of retirement for the Evo Stik Division One North match.
Club captain Ryan Qualter transferred to Bradford (Park Avenue) in a move unrelated to the budget cut before Luke Sharry and Fernando Moke walked out and joined Droylsden and Frickley Athletic.
Their exits combined with a injuries left Elliott short and he had to bring in Joel Hughes (Yorkshire Amateur), Jack Wakefield (Goole) and Kane Reece (dual-registered with Shaw Lane Aquaforce) in to paper over the cracks.
The Ossett boss has vowed to carry on and is hoping his side, who have won eight, drawn one and lost two of their last 11 games, can complete his aims for the season.
“I’m disappointed with how things have gone since the budget cut because we have lost so many players and there are still a few clubs sniffing around players I’ve still got,” he said.
“We’re still vulnerable because it has been made public that the budget has been cut and obviously because we have a good team.
“Two or three weeks ago we were doing so well and I thought it was reachable to challenge for the last play-offs spot.
“The timing of the budget cut has been a hard one to take. But, we have to dig in and show the character we showed at Farsley for the rest of the season.
“We’ve got to get on with it. We have 15 league games to go and we have to try and finish as high as we can. We’ve got to do our best.
“My goal at the start of the season was to try and establish ourselves as a comfortable top half team and we’re still on track to do that.
“I’m not blaming the club because you have to cut your cloth accordingly and you don’t promise any money you can’t back up. I just find it disappointing that we couldn’t finish what we started this year with the squad we had.
“We have lost three or four players and we need to bring some in. We were struggling to field a team for the Farsley game, there’s no doubt about it.
“On Thursday we lost Keir Hanrity back to America which I knew about and then Fernando Moke went to Frickley. We also had a couple of injuries so we were down to the barebones.”
Lee Connor (right) came out of retirement to help Ossett Town out on Saturday at his former club Farsley AFC
Qualter’s departure to higher climbs opened up a vacancy for the captain’s job and Elliott chose midfielder Richard Patterson for the job.
Patterson was sent off for violent conduct in Saturday’s stalemate at Farsley – a match that was marred by referee David Benton refusal to shake Elliott’s hand at the final whistle.
On the appointment, Elliott said: “It’s permanent for now.
“I haven’t made a big deal out of it, but he seemed like the natural replacement.
“The lads like around the dressing room. He’s just going get a three-match ban now.”