Toolstation NCEL Premier Division
Garforth Town manager Rob Hunter
Rob Hunter says Garforth Town are starting to see real green shoots of recovery after a solid start to the season.
Hunter has overseen a memorable first month to the campaign – with the outstanding 3-2 midweek victory at Worksop Town being the major highlight.
Go back 12 months and Garforth did not know where next win was coming from, but now after a lot of hard work, the Miners are reaping the rewards.
“This time last year we going into games not knowing how we would perform, now we’re going into every game confident of getting three points,” Hunter told Non League Yorkshire.
“The lads are doing a great job.
“It shows how far we have come. It is a stable situation that we are in now. I would say 90% of the players here now are here for the long haul.
“You look at the bench last week, we had Jack McMurrough, Sam Leach and Mark Simpson on it and you think ‘wow, we have come a long way’.
“What we have done is stabilise the club gradually.
“We haven’t been given this big budget which has allowed us to bring all these people to the club, it has been a steady and gradual build-up of momentum.
“Starting pre-season with ten or eleven players from last season was great for the club and that’s how you need to start a season.
“You start with a nucleus of players and you bring four or five better players into the club and you develop it.”
Mark Simpson’s goals for Garforth Town this season will earn him multiple strawberry milkshakes
There was more joy for Garforth supporters last week when prodigal son Mark Simpson made a surprise return to East Leeds after choosing to leave Worksop Town.
The record-breaking forward left Garforth back in May and Hunter explained how he prized him back.
“We were having bets on what month he would come back to Garforth,” he said.
“In recent weeks we were having bets on which week in September he would come back.
“I think the offer of a strawberry milkshake as a goal bonus is what tipped the scales.
“It came about very quickly. At the Worksop game I couldn’t go in the clubhouse because of work commitments I had to shoot straight off.
“From I can gather, there was a conversation on the Thursday morning between the Worksop manager (Ryan Hindley) and Simmo.
“Mark decided that it wasn’t about the financial rewards and that it is about wanting to play football week-in-week-out.
“He had been given permission to talk to whichever club he wanted to join with a waiver of the seven days’ notice.
“So I got a call on the Friday morning to see if the strawberry milkshake was still available.”