Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League
Jon Wragg feels Ecclesfield Red Rose 1915’s solid start to the campaign puts them in a good position to push for a top five finish.
Ecclesfield have raced out of the traps with three wins and a draw to sit second in the Premier Division table.
Saturday’s scalp of ambitious Wakefield AFC set the pulses racing and Wragg admits the win is a benchmark.
“It is still early days and we still have Dodworth, Swinton, Penistone, the teams who you expect to be strong to play,” Wragg told Non League Yorkshire.
“But Saturday was a massive test for where we want to be.
“Wakefield looked a lot stronger than they have done in the previous years.
“You can see for yourself the players they are bringing in from higher levels and we know where they want to get to.
“We hit the standards we want to hit and if we can do that consistently and keep this squad together we certainly have to be looking at the top five or six.
“The aim was in pre-season to do that.
“We want to get closer to the top sides in the league in the Swinton’s, the Dodworth’s, the Wakefield’s, Gawber’s, Wombwell’s, Stocksbridge’s and Penistone’s.
“We’ve had a good start and we’re really pleased with it but in every game we have been missing three or four players.
“We’re still in that period where it is the end of the summer and people are on holidays, stag dos.
“We lost a few the other week to Doncaster Races when we played Jubilee.
“When we get everyone available we’ll be happy but I suppose they’ll be a few selection headaches.”
The opening four league games also answer the question of whether Ecclesfield can cope without star striker Kenan Mckenzie-Gray who joined Shirebrook Town in the summer.
His replacement was young Jacob Rickards and Wragg says the striker and the other new signings have fitted in well.
“We have brought in a few lads in over the summer and they’ve done well,” he said.
“Jacob Rickards scored a hat-trick last week against Wombwell.
“Laurie Wilson has come in and been brilliant.
“We signed Rob Farrell who was at Worsbrough in pre-season and he got two goals on his debut.
“The lads coming in have added competition to what was already a relatively strong squad anyway.”
What made the Wakefield victory special was the fact key men Tyler Bates (suspended), Sam Gibson (Festival), Laurie Wilson (wedding), Gav Hunter (away) were unavailable.
Ecclesfield were so threadbare that long-retired Wragg and his brother Matt were substitutes.
Former Penistone Church star Scott Whittington was also drafted in as an eleventh hour selection pick.
Carlton Carty got both goals as Ecclesfield won 2-1 thanks to a second half comeback.
“It was a big win especially considering we had four missing,” he said.
“Myself and Matt ended up having to go on the bench so we were pretty short.
“We would have only gone on an emergency but I wouldn’t have liked to have come on and Matt wasn’t enthusiastic either so it makes the win even more remarkable.
“We were 1-0 down at half-time and we lost Jacob Rickards through injury.
“You are looking at that point ‘where are we going to get a couple of goals from’?
“We ended up bringing on Scott Whittington who you will know from Penistone and who helps us out down and again.
“He’s not match fit but he came on and did well and we were brilliant in the second half.
“We changed the formation and really took the game to them.
“It was outstanding how the lads dug in and got a result against a very strong side for this level of football.”
Ecclesfield visit winless reigning champions North Gawber tomorrow aiming to continue the brilliant start.
Gawber seem to be in a transition year as many of the players who brought unprecedented success to the club have not been involved so far this season.
But Wragg won’t underestimate the league giants.
“In our first season in the Prem we actually won 1-0 at North Gawber,” he said.
“We got a bit of a battering but we put our bodies on the line and we managed to nick a goal.
“That gave us the momentum to believe we could compete in the Prem because we’d had a mixed start to that season.
“We went on a bit of a run until the pandemic ended the season in the March.
“We have got a result there previously but we know how hard it is to go there and get a result.
“I don’t know what (Gawber’s) team will be but you have to expect that you’ll come up against a strong side.
“It will be a tough game but if we can carry the momentum and unbeaten run on it breeds even more confidence.”