Praise for young Bees from new boss Fowler
NEW Studley boss Mike Fowler praised the character of his young side following their 2-0 defeat at Stratford Town on Tuesday.
Fowler took over from John Edwards at the end of last season and his appointment strengthens links with National League side Solihull Moors where he is head of elite youth development.
“We knew it was going to be a tough test against a form side that only lost two games in their last 14 at the back end of the season,” he admitted.
“We are early in pre-season and trying to build fitness and relationships. There has been a big turnover of players and we are trying to get that right chemistry within the group. You hope that you click early but at the moment it is mostly about fitness and I thought today we applied ourselves very well.
“Other than a couple of mistakes – and I can take those so early in pre-season – we performed well and I thought we showed a lot of character having gone 2-0 down.”
Stratford won thanks to two goals from Callum Ebanks including one from the spot.
Fowler added: “Before the penalty I thought we were on top and playing really well. We then had a bit of a wobble when the two goals went in but we recovered and showed resilience, character and bravery to still go and play when they were losing and in the end I thought we should have had a couple of goals ourselves.
“In the first half we didn’t have enough quality in the final third to capitalise on the opportunities we created but then in the second half we looked more of a threat.”
Bees lost two players through injury before half-time and Fowler added: “Harry Chesterton took a knock to the head so with the concussion protocol he won’t be able to play for two weeks but he’s fine. He’s a young lad with us from Solihull on youth experience – a talented lad.
“Jack Whelan hyper-extended his knee when landing so as a precaution we have taken him off because you don’t want to take any risks at this point but there doesn’t seem to be anything too serious.”
Studley began their pre-season with a 1-0 defeat at Coventry United of the United Counties League at the weekend and will continue their warm-up campaign with a home game against Inkberrow on Saturday.
