No secret formula behind Alcester Town's good run of form, says assistant boss Tony Round
ASSISTANT boss Tony Round says there’s no secret formula behind Alcester Town’s recent good run of form – but added having his forwards bang in form is helping.
The Romans have lost just one of their last eight games in all competitions and, after a mediocre start to the 2022-23 campaign, are now sitting fourth in the Midland League Division Two table.
Having despatched Lane Head 4-1 on Saturday in the league, Round’s and Aaron Blackwood’s side then won by the same scoreline at Hellenic League Division One strugglers Littleton in the first round of the Smedley Crooke Memorial Charity Cup on Tuesday night.
Confidence is sky high right now for the Stratford Road Ground side but Round told the Herald there’s been no tactical masterclass or change in personnel which has led to their good run of form.
“It’s not like we’ve decided to change our shape or think we needed to bring in new players, there’s no secret formula,” he said.
“We have just tinkered with our approach to games a little. Early in the season we were overplaying in the wrong areas and were getting punished for that.
“Regardless of the level we’re at, there’s some really good footballers around and when you make mistakes like that they’re not going to go unpunished.
“We did not look tough or resilient either so we’ve asked the boys to play higher up the pitch and focus on what we do well
“Basically, it’s a case of looking at the forwards now and telling them to go and win us some games and we’re reaping the rewards of that.”
And it’s the forwards who have been amongst the goals in the last two games.
On Tuesday, Odane Barnes and Liam Fullerton had given the Romans a 2-0 lead at Five Acres. Ricardo Richards added a third shortly after the restart before Barnes notched his second and Alcester’s fourth with quarter of an hour left.
Littleton would have the last say as Ollie Wilkins scrambled over a consolation for the struggling Worcestershire outfit.
On Saturday against Lane Head, Richards was the star of the show and ended up taking home the match ball.
He had given Alcester a 1-0 half-time lead from the penalty spot and then he got his second on the hour mark with a deflected shot from the edge of the area.
Ricardo then completed his hat-trick before Lane Head pulled one back with 15 minutes to go through Christopher Adamson. Jake Wicketts rounded off Alcester’s scoring four minutes later to secure a comfortable win.
Reflecting on the two games, Round told the Herald: “Our forward four of Richards, Fullerton, Barnes and Tez Morton have been absolutely fantastic and been a real handful for the opposition.
“Littleton was one of those games where even though they’re higher-ranked, they are struggling and nobody at the club could point a finger as to why.
“It was one of those where we could not just turn up thinking we’d turn them over and we knew we’d get something if we played like we had been doing going into that game.
“Looking back at the highlights, we created and missed so many chances so the scoreline could have been a landslide, it was a comfortable evening’s work.”
He added: “Lane Head is a tough place to go and it’s easy to get sucked into how they want a game to be played.
“They like to get themselves stuck into the tackles and they always field a side that will battle.
“We were only 1-0 up at half-time so we asked the lads to be more clinical and in the second we dominated the game and looked comfortable.”
The Romans make the trip to Kenilworth Sporting on Saturday (2pm kick-off).
