Evo Stik Division One South
Stocksbridge Park Steels manager Chris Hilton
There will be one or two more additions at Stocksbridge Park Steels, if that, before the league campaign kicks off in mid-August.
Chris Hilton is talking to a potential replacement for right-back Josh Meade. The un-named trialist featured in the Purdie Cup triumph over Penistone Church on Friday night, days after Meade left for Buxton.
“We had a young lad trialling (against Penistone) and we were very impressed with him,” Hilton told Non League Yorkshire.
“In light of Josh Meade moving on, we’ll be chatting with them. We also have a centre-midfielder on the trial. He got released by Bury.
“He did well in the 25 minutes he got so we’ll keep looking at him.
“We’re always looking for players who might improve us, but we’re not actively out searching for certain types of players.
“Most of the lads with us right now will take us into the start of the season.”
Striker Scott Ruthven played in defence for Stocksbridge in the Purdie Cup win over Penistone
In the Purdie Cup clash, Stocksbridge overcame a bad start to cruise to a 6-2 victory.
“It was a good workout and that’s what we expected because Penistone are a decent team,” he said.
“They work hard, they got promoted last season and they are not going to give you anything for free.
“The first 20 minutes were frustrating as we were sloppy. I know they came out of the blocks and hit us, but we have to be cleverer with the ball.
“But once as the game settled down, I’m not saying we ran riot or ran the show because we didn’t, but we kept the ball and moved it.
“In the second half especially, we worked them and they got tired.
“We’re progressing nicely in the way I want us to progress, but we’re not at the level we need to be at the start of the season. You don’t expect that though as there’s still a couple of weeks left before the season starts.”
Striker Scott Ruthven was forced to play as centre-half in the Penistone victory as Matt Reay was unavailable.
Player/assistant manager Ryan Laight would have played, but he had an FA assessor observing him in the technical area as part of his UEFA A-License course.
Hilton has confirmed that Ruthven may feature in defence again in pre-season.
Stocksbridge visit Hemsworth Miners Welfare on Tuesday night.