Derby date to be catalyst for Town (From Malvern Gazette)

Derby date to be catalyst for Town

12:30pm Friday 25th November 2011 in Football

MALVERN Town boss Les Jones says his side’s 4-1 victory at Dudley Sports must kick-start their season.

The Langland Stadium side ended a run of four consective defeats in the West Midlands League Premier Division on Tuesday with Lee Hooper netting all the goals, including one direct from the kick-off in the second-half.

It has lifted Malvern to 15th in the table and Jones now wants his team to build on that when they entertain local rivals Bromyard Town, who are second-from-bottom, tomorrow (3pm).

“In December we have got a real opportunity,” the manager said.

“Tuesday’s result has got to kick-start our season and push us on to Christmas. We have got games we will be looking to get points in.

“We have had a really tough November — the three games before Tuesday were against first, second and fourth in the league — but Dudley were just above us so it was great to get a win.

“I was very pleased with the attitude and the performance, which was caped by the goals from Lee.”

Having been 0-0 at half-time against Sports, Malvern opened up a 3-0 lead before the hosts reduced the arrears.

However, it was only a temporary blip as Hooper soon added his fourth to complete the rout.

Malvern hope to be boosted by the return of defender Tim Clarke following work commitments for tomorrow’s clash.

But they will still be without centre-half Andrew Fletcher and left-sided player Chris Allen as they are both on holiday.

Midfielder Anthony Smith is also struggling with an ankle problem and is rated as 50-50 to be involved against Bromyard.

Jones added: “It’s another local derby at home so we are looking forward to that.”

Bromyard, who lost 4-2 at Dudley Sports last Saturday, have only won twice in the league this season but manager Jon Dale believes they are steadily making progress.

He said: “We are tweaking the side and trying to get ourselves to a position where we can get some points on the board.

“We are not a million miles away and it would be fantastic to start on Saturday with it being a local derby.

“It’s a must that we get three points. We have got some games in hand but there’s no point in having them if you don’t win them.”

Bromyard also have a clean bill of health for tomorrow’s fixture.