Dodworth Miners Welfare manager Darren Young will not be raiding the Toolstation NCEL for players during their hiatus, despite an injury crisis.
The Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League Premier Division restarts on Saturday – the first of three scheduled rounds before Christmas. This is in stark contrast to the NCEL which has suspended proceedings until at least January because of the Tier 3 restrictions affecting 37 of their 40 member clubs.
The door is potentially open for Step 7 outfits to dual-register NCEL players who want competitive football in the next three weeks.
Barnsley-based Dodworth host local rivals Wombwell Main and it will go to the wire as to whether injury-hit feared talisman Danny Barlow will be on the team-sheet as he is in a race against time to be fit, along with three other un-named key men.
The temptation is clearly there to bring in reinforcements from above, but Young has full faith in his squad and the fringe players who are likely to step into the breach – including local lad and defender Lewis Whitham, signed in October, who is set to make his long-awaited debut.
“I’ve tried to keep away from it (trying to dual-sign players from the NCEL during their suspension), Young told Non League Yorkshire.
“They are not going to be playing for a few weeks, but we have a squad and bringing lads in just for three weeks is just going to kill us in terms of team spirit. The lads who weren’t getting a game before wouldn’t be getting a game and we believe in the squad we have got.
“We already have players to fill the gaps of those missing. It is about those lads playing and not bringing in lads just for three weeks to try and get a couple of extra points. I could have signed four people from the NCEL (during the suspension), but I don’t think it is right. Other teams might do something different.
“I have one lad who is going to come in and he’s played about 30 minutes in the first seven games and he’s going to start on Saturday. You look at Cal (Calan Rollinson) who has missed out on a start in the last two games, if I bring someone in (from the NCEL) and not put him in, he’s going to leave and we believe in him.
“In the first interview we did, I think I said changing rooms are everything. If you have a good changing room you’re flying. If you do anything to mess up that dynamic in the changing room and you lose it, you’re struggling.”
Both Dodworth and Wombwell were the main beneficiaries of the summer decisions of multiple NCEL players to drop down to Step 7 largely because of concerns over travelling and the number of midweek fixtures.
Dodworth signed the Owen brothers Jack and Liam, the Rollinson brothers Calan and Connor, and James Young, while Wombwell enticed Ash Emmett, Danny Frost and Kieran Hirst.
Some were criticised on social media for stepping down, with some falsely accused of moving for financial gain.
Now with the NCEL fixture list in utter chaos and clubs facing a record number of midweek games, Young agrees that those joined Step 7 clubs have been proved right.
“All those players who dropped down, I’ll be very surprised if they are picking money up,” he said.
“That tells you everything you need to know. They didn’t come down for money, it was purely a decision based on the current environment in that league.
“I can only talk about players we have got and they pay a fiver in subs towards the referee and they’ve had to pay for their own tracksuit. I’d be pretty confident to say the lads who dropped down to play for Wombwell Main won’t be getting paid.
“I think the people who said these lads dropped for financial reasons are people who didn’t really understand what Dodworth’s, Wombwell’s and others do. They don’t pay players. It was all about the lads not wanting to travel.
“The lads who have stepped down probably feel vindicated (now that there is a fixture pile-up).
“Everybody knew there would be a fixture pile-up. The people who said it wouldn’t happen were probably trying to convince themselves. If you ask any of the managers in that league (the league) they knew what was going to happen.
“I think people within the league knew what was going to happen, but I think people outside the league looking in were hoping it wasn’t going to happen. But it was always going to be the case.”
Second-placed Dodworth’s clash with Terry Simon’s Wombwell is the pick of the three fixtures in the Division.
The Iceman Frost could be back to lead the line with his wingman Hirst on-the-pitch after only being able to cheer Wombwell on from his bedroom during their last fixture – the dramatic 5-4 win over Stocksbridge Park Steels reserves.
On the same day Dodworth lost their unbeaten start and were knocked off top spot after losing 3-0 to ‘last season’s runaway champions’ Swinton Athletic – a defeat which is fresh in Young’s mind going into Saturday.
“It is going to be a test (against Wombwell),” he said.
“I think it is going to be tough because we haven’t been training until last night. They have done similar to what we have done and brought in lads from above so they have a really strong squad.
“We’re probably not looking forward to it as much as we would usually because we have a few missing. It will be a test as to the depth of our squad.
“The lads have shown they can step up before and it is a good game to come back to after what happened against Swinton. It knocked a few lads’ confidence and it is a chance now for some lads who haven’t being playing in recent weeks to step up and a stake a claim.
“The best thing about the Swinton game is we learnt that you have to be on it every week to match the best teams in the league. I think we got caught wrapped up in our own bubble and thought the league was a bit easy.
“We started the game really well, but didn’t convert chances when we should have had and we got punished. 3-0 summed it up and we have a chance to put it right now.”
Win, lose or draw come Saturday though, Young admits he is glad the league is back.
“They had to do something and I’m not surprised it is starting again, I’m just relieved,” he said.
“The mindset has changed. It is not all about winning the league. It is important because we want to win it, but it is about getting lads back on the pitch because you hear about the mental health side and it is about playing and getting out of the house and doing things you enjoy.
“There’s no reason why the league can’t finish properly. The weather is the only thing we can really stop us. I think there is going to be the odd week where teams may have to stop because someone in their group gets Covid.
“But I think now is about getting as many games in as possible and finish the season off. No-one wants a season which doesn’t finish again.”
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. When we properly 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.
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