Poised To Finish Out The Season On A High - Sam Dunn

SOUTHAM UNITED

POISED TO FINISH OUT THE SEASON ON A HIGH

WORDS // RHIAN TILLEY

After becoming a familiar figure in Rich Kay’s back-line, right-back Sam Dunn has found a rhythm with his fellow defenders. He talks to us this week about the last few matches, the defense’s clean-sheet run, and the team’s focus on finishing the season on a positive note.

Last week you received Man of the Match, alongside Adam Neale. Where were you able to find success against our strong, local rivals, Cropredy?

recent record of clean sheets speaks for itself in terms of how far we’ve progressed so hopefully we can keep building on this in the last few games.

I think on the whole we played pretty well as a team last week. Defensively we were organised and limited them to very few chances which set us up to be able to go and get a result. On any other day we probably score 2 or 3 and come away with the 3 points, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be.

How do you think that partnership with Neale, and the entire back-line, is progressing?

I’m really happy with how I’ve slotted into the side and the back four this year. Having played with Adam and some of the lads before has helped, but as a whole squad I think we’ve really turned a corner and developed a really strong foundation to build on. Defensively we’ve come on massively in recent months and I think our

You’ve been a mainstay on the back-line week-in and week-out for Rich. How are you enjoying your football for the Saints this season?

I’ve really been enjoying my football since I moved to Southam this season and I’m very grateful to Rich for the opportunities he’s given me and for showing a lot of faith in me since I joined. We’ve built such a strong squad so to have played so consistently has been fantastic.

Launton have scored 15 goals in just 5 matches recently. What will be the focus for the team defensively against a side who are strong in the attacking third?

We know Launton will be a tough test and will offer more of a threat going forward than Cropredy last week, but we’re coming into the game in good form defensively and will be looking to carry this forward into

this game. The focus will be to try and stay organised as a back 4, but also to keep being aggressive and not give their forward players any time and space on the ball.

Conversely, we have only conceded 1 in the last 6 matches, a fantastic achievement for the team, especially after a difficult end to last year/start of this year. Where has this consistency come from?

I think we’ve largely had a fairly settled squad since the new year, which has helped us build good chemistry as a back four. But having said that, when the side has been changed everyone who has come in has hit the ground running straight away. There’s also been a noticeable change in focus and I feel like the intensity in training has really ramped up, which seems to have paid off in recent performances.

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With the end of the season approaching, and a possible promotion in the offseason already locked up, where is the focus for the team at the moment?

It was great to get the promotion ticked off last week, but the squad is still focused on keeping this momentum going to finish the year on a high and finish as high up the league table as we can. We’ll just take one game at a time and try to take maximum points every week and hopefully keep that positivity going into pre-season.

The last home match, against Bicester, was a great atmosphere at Bobby Hancocks Park. How important is it for the players to have that support?

It was great to see so many people out supporting us in the last home game for such an important fixture. It gives everyone a real boost and means a lot to the team, so I’m glad we were able to give a good performance and I think we definitely deserved all 3 points on the day. Hopefully that support can continue into next season as it can really give us that extra boost!