Romans celebrate title with seven-goal rout
DELIGHTED Alcester Town manager Aaron Blackwood said his side had won the league in style and that there was more to come from his players.
The Romans were presented with their Herefordshire League Premier Division shield following their 7-0 defeat of Worcester City Reserves on Saturday and the team now have their sights set on other targets – going through the season unbeaten and adding the Herefordshire FA Charity Bowl to their trophy haul.
“We have done it in style,” Blackwood said. “I know there was a bit of an expectation that we would be there or thereabouts but we have been humble throughout the entire process. This is a huge achievement for the club and hopefully we can kick on from here.
“It was back in the early 1990s when the club were last at this level and the lads probably are’t aware of what they have gone and achieved. This is massive for the club. We are ambitious and this is just the start for Alcester Town.”
Skipper Jake Wicketts and striker Adam Bourn each scored a hat-trick in the 7-0 defeat of Worcester with the other goal coming from Robbie Davies.
This was followed by a 3-2 win at New Dales Vale on Tuesday with two more goals from Wicketts and another from Bourn.
It means the Romans have chalked up 25 wins from 27 games with a solitary draw and another result still pending after their match with Ledbury was abandoned with Alcester 5-2 ahead.
Blackwood added: “The lads have been set certain targets over the past couple of months to keep them motivated and we have spoken about what we want to do in the final games of the season and about giving each team we play against the respect they deserve.
“We will bounce into the final league game against Kington on Saturday and then into our cup final the week after.
“We are a relatively young side with players like Jake Wicketts, Drew Ricketts, Tristan Roberts and Luke Dugmore who have added a bit of experience. But in the main we are a young group who are still learning and developing and who will improve next season. We know we are not going to be the big spenders but we are trying to go about things in the right way.”
Although it will be down to the FA to decide which league Alcester Town will play in next season, it is expected that they will be placed in Division One of the Hellenic League alongside FC Stratford and Redditch Borough.
“We went to watch Redditch Borough against Wantage Town in their play-off game and while we are not going to discount those teams or suggest it is going to be a walk in the park, we feel we can continue to achieve things with the club,” the Romans boss added.
“This is just the start. We appreciate that the higher you go up in the leagues then the more resources are offered to players but we have a decent bunch of lands who enjoy playing together so hopefully that will be enough to kick us on again.”
The Romans round off their league season at home to Kington Town on Saturday before the two sides meet again in the Charity Bowl final on Saturday 3rd May at the Herefordshire FA ground in Hereford.
