Young guns impress as regulars look on
STRATFORD Town manager Gavin Hurren admits he has been pleasantly surprised by the club’s young guns and trialists as the Bards head into their second week of pre-season games.
Hurren’s side drew their opening friendly at Evesham United at the weekend and followed this up with a 3-0 defeat of Pershore Town – games that had a number of signings and first team regulars sat in the stand.
“It has all been about minutes so far and having a look at some players who want to join the club and fight for a shirt,” the Bards boss explained. “It’s been a really positive couple of games and I’m upbeat, as are the lads.”
Youngsters from the club’s academy were involved in both games and Hurren added: “We have a load more games to come in pre-season but what these two matches have shown is that there is a pathway from the academy. Five or six of the lads have been involved and have been training with the first team – and that has been a massive plus for them in their development.
“Every single one of the academy lads has surprised me in that they have met the demands and have kept up with the running we’ve asked them to do. They have come in and not looked out of place, holding their own against a step four and a step five side and I’m immensely proud. Not only that, they also need to be proud of what they have achieved, and it shows that with the development and coaching in the academy, we are doing something right.”
Town are set to play a Birmingham City XI on Saturday with the club’s presentation evening following on. The Bards are also in action on Tuesday when Lye Town are the visitors to the Arden Garages Stadium.
Hurren added: “We have had two really tough tests but we need to keep that going against Birmingham City on Saturday. We will have a look at training on Thursday and then decide what sort of side we put out at the weekend. We have plenty of matches coming up and it is all about getting players ready for when the season starts on 10th August.
“It’s not about the result but it’s still a nice feeling when you come away from a match having won and we want to encourage that winning mentality. When you have been training hard, you want to go out there and win games of football.”
