As we approach the Christmas period we took the opportunity to catch up with joint First Team Manager James Parker to reflect on last Saturday’s victory and the first half of the season as a whole.
“I was absolutely delighted to get the win over Bilston last Saturday. I think we thoroughly deserved it on the day against a side who are near the top of the table. We played some great attacking football and were resolute in defence when we needed to be. We have had some really good spells in recent games without picking up results and it was important for us to get 3 points and break the run of defeats in the league. I was really pleased for Leslie (Omorodion), who scored both of our goals. It goes to show just how important confidence is in football. Having been unable to find the net for weeks, Leslie can’t stop scoring now and looks a massive threat in every game.
This though is what we have to expect from such a young group of players, most of which have come through our own junior development programme. I have every faith in the ability of the squad, it is just finding the consistency in performance that will see us get results, week in week out.
This applies to all of us though including the Management and Coaches, we are learning about this league and the squad as each week goes by. It would be easy to look at things in hindsight and think we could have done things differently in particular games, but that is all part of the learning experience for all of us. What I am certain of is that we have a young and hungry squad, who are listening and learning all the time and are determined to push on in the second half of the campaign and keep improving.
Some of our performances already this season have shown that at our best we are more than a match for anyone. We have had some great wins, including in the Cup, where we can now go into the second half of the campaign with two quarter finals to look forward to, starting on the 24 January when we host local rivals Boldmere St Michaels in the Walsall Senior Cup. This will be a great test for us against a team going well two tiers above us.
So as we go into the festive period I think we can all reflect on a good first half of the season, with plenty to look forward to in the New Year.
I would finally like to say on behalf of myself, the players, coaches, the committee and everyone who works so hard behind the scenes at Paget Rangers, a massive thank you to our Sponsors and Supporters and hope you all enjoy a great Christmas and lets look forward to a New Year full of optimism.”