Louis Axcell has hailed Maltby Main’s positive opening to the Toolstation NCEL Premier Division season.
Maltby have overcome some sticky wickets – including the 1-1 draw at promotion contenders Yorkshire Amateur – to sit seventh after collecting 11 points from a possible 18. The Main head to Garforth Town tonight.
“The start has been fantastic and I’m absolutely over the moon,” Axcell told Non League Yorkshire.
“Saturday (the 1-0 win over Silsden) was the best three points of the season. You might not think it is, but it is (because we weren’t at our best).
“That puts us on a six-match unbeaten run and puts us next to the top six and we have played three of the so-called top sides. But we’ll have to be a lot better on Tuesday.
“We showed some steel against Yorkshire Amateur. We were organised and we went with a game-plan to defend our own half. They are the best side I’ve seen in this league for quite a while – their movement, the way they are organised, how quick they are.
“We went to frustrate them and to not let them score. Funnily enough their goal was from a scrappy corner, it wasn’t from open play. Then when we went to ten men you think the game is going to run away, but we actually had three chances – the penalty and two other chances in the last ten minutes.
“I think for our grit and determination we came away with a point and deserved it. Without a doubt it has been the best week of the season, but we have got to build on it and better against Garforth.”
After the trip to Garforth, Maltby bizarrely have a seven-day break as no Saturday fixture is scheduled.
Axcell said last week that the league need to get games on if teams are available to ensure the season stands the best chance of finishing. So he admits he finds the situation hard to believe.
“We have a Saturday off which is strange because there’s six other teams not playing,” he said.
“I don’t know whether the fixture people can look at that and see if something can be arranged?
“I definitely think there should be full fixtures if there is enough available teams. They should be getting the games on, even if it means bringing forward a fixture from say March.”
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.
