Hemsworth are no longer the surprise package, admits Wayne Benn
Wayne Benn hopes Hemsworth Miners Welfare can be part of the promotion race for a second consecutive season, but admits his young charges are no longer an unknown quantity.
Hemsworth are aiming to go one better this time around after their surprise third place finish in Division One of the Toolstation NCEL last season.
However, Benn accepts that his side are now ranked as one of the league’s top teams which does change the way he sets his troops up each week.
“Not being the surprise package anymore makes things harder,” Benn said.
“People know more about us and how we try to play so we have to adapt to that.
“Teams will come and set up to be difficult to beat. We have to mix things up and change things.
“But I do think with the squad I have got, I have more options this season, even though I have lost a couple of players.
“I think we have different ways to play and we can look to change system now and again.
“We’re less predictable and I think we have to do because teams know more about us and are more vary of us.”
Hemsworth striker Shane Kelsey broke his foot on his debut in their first friendly in early July and is ruled out for the start of the season
The Wells have lost star striker Nick Guest and goalkeeper Jack Bentley.
Guest has been replaced by currently injured striker Shane Kelsey, while Benn has signed two able goalkeepers to compete for the number one shirt.
Apart from those two changes, Hemsworth are pretty much unchanged for the new campaign.
That bodes well for them ahead of the curtain-raiser with Glasshoughton Welfare in Fitzwilliam.
Although not making any bold statements, Benn is hopeful his team can mount a bid for the top six.
He added: “I think our aims is like half of the Division – to try to be involved in the promotion mix again.
“Obviously we surprised a few people last year. To stay the course and finish only three points off the promotion place was a fantastic achievement.
“It is tinged with a slight disappointment because I felt we should have gone up. I felt we were the best footballing side in the Division and that we dropped some silly points.
“Most of these young lads are a season older and a season wiser and you’d like to think they’ll come on from that experience.
“We’re trying to add a little bit of experience into the team because I felt we lacked that at certain times last year.
“I like the look of the squad and I’m quietly confident we’ll go well again.
“I’m not going to sit here and make predictions about winning leagues and being in promotion mixes because that would be foolish.
“I think the league is going to be tougher because the introduction of play-offs makes it more difficult as it brings more teams into the equation.
“We’ll approach each game our way playing a positive brand of football that brings us the right results.
“There are some teams in this playing big dough. We can’t match that.
“We’re doing things bit by bit, but we’re fractions away on last year’s evidence.
“I’ve to the lads though that last season counts for nothing and everyone starts with a clean slate.”
This is the first of our previews for opening weekend of the new Toolstation Northern Counties East League season. You can keep in touch with Non League Yorkshire by following our Twitter page (@NonLeagueNorth) and Facebook page.