Season Preview
Toolstation NCEL Premier Division
Knaresborough Town
The king is dead, long live the king. Rob Hunter is leading a brave new era at Manse Lane and hoping to put Knaresborough Town back on an upward trajectory.
Manager
Rob Hunter
The very experienced former Garforth Town and Glasshoughton Welfare manager replaced the long-serving Paul Stansfield in May. He brings a vast amount of knowledge of Non League Football and local football from over 40 years of participation in the game.
Opening Five Fixtures
Barton Town (a), Northallerton Town – FA Cup (h), Sherwood Colliery (h), Hemsworth Miners Welfare (h), Goole AFC (a).
Notable Movement
In: Sean Hunter (Campion), Tom Rose, Mitch Hamilton, Dom Creamer (Boroughbridge), Ewan Gregson, Harry Croft, Cameron Bedford,
Out: Will Lenehan.
One to Watch
Sean Hunter
One word sums up the striker – goals.
Interview
Knaresborough Town manager Rob Hunter says he wants his side to be a top ten hit this season.
Hunter is gearing up for his first competitive match in the Knaresborough dugout – the trip to Barton Town – and he expects his new team to have a decent campaign.
“The expectations are to be competitive at the top end of the league,” Hunter told Non League Yorkshire.
“I would never go into a season thinking we’re going to really struggle.
“You always put belief in your players and always put belief in the attitude of the group,
“I have been really impressed with what we have in the changing room, the likes of Gregg Anderson and Ben Parkes especially.
“Their attitude breaths into the other players and I think we would be really disappointed if we’re not in the top ten.
“At the end of last season when it was curtailed they only had seven points from nine games.
“I don’t think we’re going to be anywhere near that level.
“I don’t think we’ll be in the bottom three.
“I definitely think we’ll be in the top half.
“I don’t think coming to Knaresborough Town is going to be an easy task for anyone.”
The dynamics of the NCEL Premier Division have changed significantly with Liversedge, Yorkshire Amateur and Bridlington Town being promoted to the Northern Premier League.
Hunter agrees Knaresborough should be capable of beating anyone and that clubs won’t need to alter their tactics too often to combat the opposition.
“There’s still some very good teams (in the league),” he said.
“I expect Penistone, Garforth Town and maybe Staveley to be thinking they have a real opportunity to win the league.
“They’re the three I would say will be looking to try and win it.
“You’re right, we don’t fear anyone.
“There’s not a single team in the league who we don’t think we can give a good game.
“For that reason why wouldn’t we think we will be anything less than top half of the league.”
He added: “Most teams in this league have certain styles.
“You know when you go to Penistone you don’t want to be conceding free kicks anywhere in the final third of the pitch because you know you will get bombed with great balls into the box and three or four players will come to the back-post wanting to score against you.
“Maltby is very similar.
“You know teams like Staveley will keep the ball on the ground, especially on the 3G pitch.
“There will be games where you might want to change your game-plan a little bit because you know how certain teams play.
“But I do agree that you shouldn’t have to change your own game too much this season because you’re not playing against the likes of Liversedge and Yorkshire Amateur (where you might have parked the bus last season).”
Knaresborough head into the Barton game full of confidence after two positive displays against strong opposition.
“The last two performances have been really good,” he said.
“The performance at North Ferriby was outstanding.
“I know they are the league below, but they’re a very good team with experienced players and they are very well-organised but we dealt with their threat and scored two really good goals.
“Even though we got beat 4-1 by Yorkshire Amateur on Saturday, two goals were scored in the last ten minutes when we were out on our feet.
“We put out a really organised team and I was impressed.
“We created at least five chances in the first half which we never capitalised on.
“The score-line could have been different against a brilliant Yorkshire Amateur team.”
Aside from goal machine Sean Hunter, impressing for Knaresborough have been several of their ‘hidden gem’ signings.
Dom Creamer, a former Boroughbridge midfielder, has excited the Manse Lane crowd with his displays, so has Craig Ramplin.
Hunter is also pleased with the progress of young local lads Ewan Gregson and Cameron Bedford who he plans to give NCEL chances to.
The Knaresborough boss has to follow a strict recruitment policy due to finances and that means looking local.
“I was reading your article with Paul Marshall and we are very similar to Garforth,” he said.
“We don’t have a massive budget.
“I can’t go and bring a big player in because we don’t have the money to compete.
“When people start talking £60 or £80s, straightaway it is a ‘no’.
“Getting local lads and youngsters; I think Marshy called them ‘hidden gems’, that’s exactly what we have had to do in pre-season.”
Prediction
Mid-Table, pushing for top half
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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.
Our work is playing an important role in reintroducing our players, who have disabilities and learning difficulties, back into society.
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