Ian Richards doesn’t regard his Penistone Church side as promotion contenders just yet
Ian Richards is refusing to regard his surprise package Penistone Church as promotion contenders.
The Toolstation NCEL Division One newcomers have made an excellent start and Richards’ men lie just eight points from second-placed Clipstone.
Penistone may lie in ninth, but the promotion race is extremely tight and Church are an outside bet for back-to-back elevations.
Such an event would be far beyond Richards’ stated aims during pre-season which were to simply finish in the top ten and establish the club in the NCEL.
However, the former Bradford (Park Avenue) and Stocksbridge midfielder is not considering talking about promotion just yet.
“We had an end of October target to be top ten and we achieved that so I have increased that to top six,” Richards told Non League Yorkshire.
“We have signed a bit of quality of experience in Brett -Bowden Lovell and Andy Ring from Stocksbridge along with Paul Lavender who was at Hallam last year.
“The target is top six for Christmas and then we’ll re-assess then and set a target for the end of March which will be to close the gap on the top two.
“If we’re there by March then I’ll say we’re in a promotion race. I don’t want to put too high expectations on the players.
“It would be great if we can get involved in the promotion chase, but that wasn’t our ultimate aim at the start of the season.
“We’re in there and there are ten teams realistically you can say have a chance of promotion.
“Emley will slip up again and Clipstone may so I think it will go down to the last month in April and it is just good to be involved.”
If Penistone do achieve promotion, Richards insists his club are prepared for the step-up.
He said: “We’re set up for promotion in terms of the club and its facilities.
“We haven’t got the backing in the sense of the playing side and the budget.
“But the better we do, the more attraction the club will get in terms of attendances and players.
“If we have a chance, we will go for it. But it is not our ultimate goal. It would be a great success for us as a club if we did.
“Top six would be an excellent achievement as well.”
Penistone are hoping to bounce back from two consecutive defeats when they host Rossington Main tomorrow.
Andy Ring is expected to miss the game because of a hamstring strain and Paul Lavender (knee) is definitely missing.
Whatever the outcome tomorrow, Richards is very happy with the way his side are playing.
“We’re enjoying the experience and we have built a reputation and teams are taking notice of us,” he said.
“People have been very complimentary.
“Louth manager said to us two weeks ago that we were the best team they had played this season.
“I spoke to (Pontefract joint manager) Dunc (Bray) and he said that the Louth manager had said to them that ‘Penistone were a good side and the best side they had played’.
“We are making a positive representation of ourselves.”
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