Both sides are pushing for promotion and we’ve managed to speak to both camps ahead of this key fixture. Taking part in the Q&A are James Hancocks (Lads Club) & Sam Hunt (Malvern Town).
First up it’s James Hancocks (Lads Club)
Q) Good performance Saturday. Will you have to be at your best to beat Malvern tomorrow night?
A) It was a game we needed to win Saturday, ahead of a vital month for us which is going to dictate our season. The performance was impressive, we played some great football. However we do make games hard work sometimes by not finishing games of when we have good chances too. That is something we can’t afford not to do against Malvern as they are one of the strongest sides in the league. On our day we know we can beat anyone, we are a hard working side who will do our best to try get 3 points.
Q) How are you finding the new pitch? Do you see it as an advantage?
A) We’ve got a lot of young players in the team like myself, who are used to Artificial Surfaces having grown up playing on them throughout youth football. The surface allows us to get the ball down and play quickly on which is what we want to do. It’s the way Mooner wants us to play and from recent performances we have demonstrated it can be an advantage to us. We know it suits other sides to though but hopefully the more we play on it now the better we can be with the ball.
Q) Danny Moon appears to have a great squad to choose from. Which of your teammates would you say is most important to the style of football you play?
A) Firstly it is a huge shame my good Friend Tom Dawson is likely to miss the rest of the season with a serious injury, hopefully he makes a speedy recovery. We are a hungry squad with good depth and a lot of competition to be in the starting 11, so you really need to be at your best. It works well as we all get on outside of football too, so really push each other to perform week in week out. Adam Hockey is having a great season, he’s very good at going forward and beating players, a lad I have played with since we was very young. Adam Newbury or as us lads call him (Westinghouse) is another good ball player which suits our game as he helps control the play in the middle of the park. Jamer ( LaBear) Cuthberson has been ever present solid at the back for us, even getting on the score sheet quite frequently from set pieces.
Q) Promotion? Would a win against Malvern tomorrow and Pegasus on Saturday give you the confidence for a promotion push?
A) One game at a time is our mentality at the moment and will continue to be so. Promotion is our main goal off course so 3 points against both sides would be massive to help push towards that. We may not be able to compete financially with some of the other top clubs in the league but this squad is good enough to go up and compete as we have already beaten higher opposition this year in the league cups.
Q) Do you know any of the Malvern squad? Who will be their biggest threat?
A) We are well aware of the threats Malvern have, having played them several times in the last few years. They are a very attacking team and the amount of goals they have scored shows that. Individually we need to win our battles and play to our strengths.
Now for Sam Hunt (Malvern Town)
Q) You seem to be enjoying your time at Malvern. What’s the setup like over there?
A) I’m loving my football again this season at Malvern. The set up is first class and all credit to the chairman who has put the structure in place for us to progress on and off the pitch.
Q) Malvern appear to be attracting decent crowds for this level of football. Does that help you push on?
A) The backing we recieve is phenomenal and only seems to be growing. To average 200/250 consistently is a massive boost so hopefully a few will follow us over on Tuesday night as we look to keep repaying them for their support.
Q) It looks like being a very exciting end to the season with many teams having games in hand on leaders Pegasus. Do you have enough quality in your squad to push for promotion?
A) This sounds abit cliche but personally I don’t look at the table often. As a group we are focused on trying win every game and tick them off one by one. We most definitely have the quality and togetherness within this squad to gain promotion and our aim is too win the title. Most people you speak to have us down as favourites to win the league but it will be competitive between the top 2/3 sides. Lads club will be no different as they will have promotion in sight themselves, so we will prepare and show them the same respect we show all our opposition.
Q) You’ve played football for sides in Hereford before. Do you know many of the Lads Club players and who would you describe as their biggest threat?
A) I know most of their lads. Jamie Cuthbertson is usually solid at the back and a threat from set pieces, Adam Newbury will look to get on the ball and dictate in the middle and Adam Hockey on his day is a lively threat. We will solely focus on ourselves though.
Q) Which teammate of yours has performed the best this season?
A) Oh tough one that as all the lads have been superb but I’ll be biased and give it to Harry Clark my mate in front of me down the left hand side. We’ve got a good partnership going and full backs must have nightmares about him after. His goals and assists this year are a joke.
