Lee Ashforth has patted his Campion players on the back for learning the lessons of last season and ensuring the promotion hopefuls have got off to a perfect start.
The Bradford-based side have won three out of three in Division One of the Toolstation NCEL. Campion narrowly beat Glasshoughton Welfare on the opening day before romping to victories over Worsbrough Bridge and then Dronfield Town on Saturday.
It is in sharp contrast to last season when Campion failed to win any of their opening three league games.
“We finished quite well at the end of last season and we were scoring goals and we were on a really good run,” joint manager Ashforth told Non League Yorkshire.
“We had a pre-season which was disjointed as everyone else’s was. It was difficult to plan properly, but I think it has been a big help this year that nobody has been on holiday.
“At your pre-season sessions you’ve had the whole squad there right the way through and we’ve gone on about needing to hit the ground running as soon as the league games started.
“We have done that and we have played really well in the three league games we have played. In the Glasshoughton game they really came at us in the last 20 minutes and could have got something out of the game and probably should have done. We held on and showed resilience.
“The other two games we’ve run away with them both. Conceding against Worsbrough Bridge was disappointing because I felt we did enough to keep a clean sheet, but then when you look at the Glasshoughton game we did well to hang onto the clean sheet.
It is a really good start and we’ve happy with how things are at the minute. Last season I think after three or four games we were fourth-bottom and we were struggling to get points on the board.
“It took us a while to get results and we’ve spoke to the players about that in pre-season and said we couldn’t afford that start again. So they were well-aware of it and we were aware of it.”
Goals, goals and more goals have been the story of the last two fixtures. Ashforth and James Bicknell’s Campion have been the league’s entertainers after winning 4-1 at Worsbrough Bridge before the 5-2 smashing of Dronfield Town. Although the strikers are taking the credit, Ashforth is keen to stress the performances of others.
“At the moment we have had Sean Hunter, Aiden Kirby and Paddy Sykes playing (upfront) because Marcus Day and Mohammed Qasim have been injured,” he said.
“Obviously we have never had all five to pick from and Saturday was the first time we had four to pick from and we have managed at the minute to keep them happy.
“They know they have to play well (to stay in the team). When you have goals in the team it is great, but you have to stop it at the other end. We have brought Steve Kerr in as the goalkeeper to help us at that end of the pitch.
“We have got Scott Eastwood and Graham Hall who are playing really well in central defence so we have some really good players right through the team.
“We’ve got Aidan Day as captain in midfield and he’s been brilliant for Campion over the last three or four years so we do feel we have strength-in-depth right through the team.”
Former Garforth Town and Harrogate Railway striker Hunter was Campion’s marquee summer signing. He has already scored three times, but his best is probably still to come.
“We got him in quite late in the day,” Ashforth said.
“I spoke to Rob Hunter who I’ve known through my Harrogate Railway days and I had a good chat with him and at the time Sean had three or four clubs in for him.
“I went and met them at Wetherby Services, wearing the full masks like we’re supposed to do, and he was a good signing for us.
“When he came in he openly admitted he was going to be a few weeks behind everyone else because his pre-season had been a bit disjointed.
“He seems to be getting there and I think by his own admission he’s probably still a couple of games away from full fitness.
“We brought him off on Saturday because he looked a bit tired, but he got his goal again and he’s going to be a good player for us and he’ll get goals for us.”
Campion are one of many teams vying for one of the four promotion places and Ashforth admits it is difficult to call the teams will rival them.
“It is always hard to say at this stage,” he said.
“Before the season starts you look at who you expect to be up there like your Skegness’, Winterton’s, North Ferriby’s, Hallam seem to be getting some good players in, your Selby’s. But you always have some unexpected ones and you don’t know who they are going to be.
“Now the season has started you look at your Swallownest’s who have had a couple of good results. Obviously you’d have expected Emley to do well anyway. Brigg Town got their manager in quite late and he’s the one who had the massive success at Cleethorpes.
“Before you know it, in the first week of the season Dronfield win at Skegness and you think ‘are Dronfield going to be a threat to the league’? It is really difficult to pick up on on it.
“We’ve just got to concentrate on what we’re doing and let the league take care of itself. I’ve said it a million times, if you get two points a game on average you’re going to be up there for promotion at the end of the season and that’s got to be our target.”
If you have enjoyed reading Non League Yorkshire over the past few months, please consider making a donation to the not-for-profit organisation NLY Community Sport which provides sport for children and adults with disabilities and learning difficulties. CLICK HERE to visit the JustGiving page. There is a video at the bottom of the page showing our work.
NLY Community Sport, run by James Grayson and Connor Rollinson, has always had combatting social isolation at the top of our objectives when running our Disability Football teams. As we slowly return to ‘action’, our work will play an important role in reintroducing our players, who have disabilities and learning difficulties, back into society.
We have six teams, a mixture of Junior and Adult teams – Nostell MW DFC, Pontefract Pirates, Selby Disability Football Club and the South Yorkshire Superheroes (Barnsley) – across Yorkshire.
We have enjoyed great success over the past three years. Several of our players have represented Mencap GB in Geneva, including Billy Hobson from Selby and Greg Smith, whose story is quite inspiring.
Like most organisations, we have been affected financially by the Coronavirus and because of the cancelled Lucille Rollinson Memorial Tournament, we are down on projected income for the year and we have incurred losses in the last few months.
We have not been hit as badly as other organisations, but we do need raise £2000 to put us back at the level we were at in mid-March and enable us to make a difference once again to our players’ lives in the future, without having financial worries. Several of our players are suffering from effects of the lockdown and we are determined to be in the strongest position possible to provide services for them.
Any amount raised above £2000 will be put towards new projects (when the world returns to normal) designed to further benefit people with disabilities and learning difficulties. You can learn more about the organisation HERE and on our Facebook page.
Watch the video below to see highlights from our three years as an organisation. The video was produced for our players at the end of March to remind them of good memories from the last three years.