Sport

CRUNCH BATTLES: Action from Sherborne’s opening games of the season Pictures: GILL CLARK

Mixed fortunes for Sherborne sides

Sherborne Firsts stuttering start to the season continued as they suffered their fifth defeat of the season, losing 20-0 away to bottom side Bridgwater and Albion, to leave them just two points and one place above them in 11th. It has been a tough start to the campaign in a competitive league, the Regional 2 Tribute South West of South West Division, with the Firsts regularly forced into a number of personnel changes, with five different players so far featuring at fly half. The club had welcomed many new faces during the close season, and with others stepping up from the Colts, the coaches have been working hard to find a winning formula and turn the team into a cohesive unit. In contrast to the fortunes of the Firsts, Sherborne’s Second team have started well after a troubled campaign last season, winning four from five of their games in the Counties 3 Tribute Dorset and Wilts Central of South West Division. They are currently tied on points with Corsham Seconds at the top of the division. Training sessions have been well-attended across all teams and age groups, and regular social events have helped to create a real buzz around the club. Sherborne Rugby Club would love to hear from anybody looking to get involved on or off the pitch, please see their website for details.

Steady as she goes as Bees new boss

By Stuart Wickham

stuart@westdorsetmag.co.uk Chris Herbst, the newlyappointed Bridport Town manager has been talking to the West Dorset Magazine about the excitement of managing his hometown club, and the need to bring back ‘togetherness’ to St. Mary Field.

Chris Herbst fought off six other contenders to be given the job of succeeding Edgar Marcu in leading the Bees, and, after another difficult start to the season, steadying the ship is his first priority. Herbst said: “I am really excited to have the chance to manage Bridport having grown up here and played for the club, but I’m realistic about the task ahead and about our goals for this season. My first priority is to steady the ship and try to bring some stability. We need to focus on our defence, make it hard for teams to break us down, and let them know that we’re going to be hard to beat. “Success for me would be for us to finish in midtable from where we are but it’s going to take us a while to get there. We have to stop conceding so many goals and I need to instil confidence in the players that just hasn’t been there for a while now. “It’s really about togetherness. In the Bridport teams I played in we always have a great team spirit, and I want to build that same sense of togetherness in my team. It’s not going to be a quick fix, and I’ve been realistic with Dougal (Bridport chairman Adrian Scadding) on how long it might take, but I’m confident that I can build that confidence and get ourselves out of the relegation zone.” The Bees are currently bottom of the South West Peninsula League East Division, having earned three points from their opening 11 games. Herbst presided over their battling 3-3 draw away at Torridgeside, where two late goals earned his team a point, and showed a belief that had been lacking during last season’s disastrous campaign. There have been positive signs in other performances, including their fixture against Elmore, where the Bees relinquished a 2-1 lead to lose 5-2. Herbst said: “People came up to me after the Elmore game and asked how we lost that game. I was really pleased with the performance and we could have won it, just didn’t have the luck at the right times. We were 2-1 up and chased the game too much, everybody was keen to get

IN THIS TOGETHER: Chris Herbst is creating a sense of togetherness at St Mary Field and, right, Riley Weedon's two goals against Elmore were not enough to give them their first league win Pictures: STEVE BARRETT

Herbst makes his case for the defence

forward, and we missed three or four chances to give us a cushion when we were on top. They equalised, and their striker scored a great goal from the corner of the box, and the lads were clearly deflated by this. After the game, the players were gutted but I see that as a good sign. I want players to hurt when they lose, it shows me that they care about playing for the club and getting the results. “It’s important that we believe we can stay in games and we do know that we can score goals now. What I need to do is to make sure that we can defend well, stop conceding sloppy goals, and then we’ll be able to manage games better.” Herbst successfully ran the reserve team last season, his charges finishing in a respectable mid-table position despite a threadbare squad to pick from. He said: “It was something of a problem for us last season that we had to help out the first team by supplying players, and the third team too. “As a club, we perhaps had too many players who weren’t willing or able to commit to playing regularly, and this is something that I’ve been keen to change. I played for this club and had that sense of pride that comes with playing for your hometown club. I would love to get more local players involved, who have that same passion, and all players must be committed to the teams. I want players to be available, communicate their availability, and be prepared to give everything on the pitch.” Having not had the benefit of pre-season with his team, Herbst and his assistant Mark Lock will have their work cut out to bed in new players, and implement a new style of play as they go along. “I am keen to bring in some more experience and confident of signing two or three players very soon. We have a bigger squad to work with, which means there is competition for places which was lacking last season. “I think certain players had the mindset that they would automatically be playing because we were so stretched and they did become complacent. I am seeing more competition now and am not afraid to rotate the squad if players don’t have the right approach in training, or if they don’t give me the thumbs up on the chat group to tell me they’re available. They have to respect the team and the opportunity of playing for us and, so far, players have responded very well. “In terms of how we play, I have reverted to a more direct style, rather than Edgar’s way of playing out from the back. “The guys embraced Edgar’s style, but we made too many mistakes where players just didn’t have the technical ability to play in this way. “My preference is to still play a pressing game, defending from the front and competing for possession higher up the park. We need to get it forward more directly so that we’re not gifting goals. “Our next game is in the FA Vase and I’m really excited about that one as we haven’t been in it for a while. The league games then come thick and fast and I am sure we can start heading in the right direction.” n The Bees entertain Royal Wootton Bassett at St Mary Field on Saturday, October 22, in the Vase match, before hosting Plymouth Marjon in the league a week later, with a midweek trip to Honiton sandwiched in between.

LINE OF THOUGHT: Chris Herbst on the touchline

Sport Swings and roundabouts as Magpies

By Harry Adams

Dorchester Town correspondent Dorchester Town slipped to their fourth defeat from five in all competitions after falling to a 3-1 home defeat to Hayes and Yeading, with Olaf Koszela’s late goal doing little to soften the blow of another disappointing result as the Magpies slipped further down the league table. The result followed on from another home defeat in midweek, with highflying Weston-super-Mare comfortably dispatching Glenn Howes’ men 3-0. The performance against Hayes and Yeading will have given fans more cause for concern, with the Magpies outplayed and out-thought by their midtable counterparts. Two first-half goals from star man Hassan Jollah left the Magpies trailing at the break, and Town struggled to find a way back into the game. Daniel Wishart added a third to make the game safe for the visitors with nine minutes remaining, meaning that Koszela’s 88th minute strike was nothing more than a consolation. Speaking on the club’s YouTube channel after the game, manager Glenn Howes acknowledged that his team’s poor start was key and was quick to take the blame. Howes said: “I got an overall element of frustration in terms of how we started the game, we couldn’t quite get to grips with Hayes’ system and, by the time we did, we were 2-0 down against a very good side. I take full responsibility for that.” The Magpies still sit comfortably enough in mid-table and the majority of supporters will have gladly taken a return of 16 points from their first 12 matches, particular after last season’s flirtation with relegation, and the mood at the club’s recent fans’ forum was certainly positive about the teams’ performance, both on and off the pitch. However manager, players and fans will all be hoping that the Magpies can return to winning ways quickly, with back-to-back away games giving them their first opportunities, starting with a visit to Hampshire to face Gosport Borough on Saturday, October 22, followed by a trip over the Welsh border to face Merthyr Town the following Tuesday. Dorchester’s last win came at the very beginning of October, with Olaf Koszela, Alfie Stanley and Shaquille Gwengwe among the goals as the Magpies came from behind to beat Harrow Borough 3-2 at The Avenue, ending a run of four straight defeats. After the win against The Boro, striker Olly Balmer talked to the West Dorset Magazine, to discuss the match, as well as his overall hopes for the team this season. Olly said: “We are very relieved about the win. “It’s been a long time coming. “We’ve been unlucky in recent weeks with games just not edging our way and little moments not falling for us. “ But, we’ve worked hard as a group and got our reward against Harrow on Saturday. “I always back us to create plenty of chances and

LATE SHOW: Olaf Koszela scored Dorchester’s late consolation againt Hayes. Right: Fans celebrate Shaq Gwengwe’s goal againts Harrow and, inset below, Olly Balmer

bid to halt slide

FULL RESPONSIBILITY: Magpies boss Glenn Howes Pictures: STEVE BARRETT

opportunities to get us back into the game. Credit to Harrow, they were very well organised and managed to nullify our threats and frustrated us a lot”. Although Olly started the game against Harrow, Glenn chose to replace him with Matt Neale ten minutes into the second period. “I was happy with certain aspects of my game, with the assist of Olaf in particular, but it is never nice to come off when your team is losing a game of football. “That being said, the squad we have assembled this season is very strong and there are matchwinners all through the squad, and that proved to be the case with Shaq (Shaquille Gwengwe) getting the winner.” Gwengwe has proved to be a popular addition to the squad this season, and Olly is positive about his teammate and the mood in the camp. “He’s a top lad. The dressing room this season has a great team spirit. “There’s no bad eggs amongst us and I think that shows in our character.” In terms of Dorchester’s overall ambitions this season, Olly said “We’ll take it game by game and go out to win every single time. “The start to the season was positive and we need to see where that can take us.”

HEADS WE WIN: Alex Murphy opened the scoring for Sherborne at Wellington

PIC BY JRH MEDIA

On-form Zebras give Wellington the boot yet again

Wellington 0 Sherborne Town 2 Cadbury Heath 1 Sherborne Town 1

The Zebras completed a league double over Wellington to move up to eighth place in the Toolstation League Premier Division. An early header from Alex Murphy and a tap-in from Henry Lawrence-Napier, were enough to give the visitors the three points at The Playing Field. Murphy’s header from a floated free kick came after just five minutes, and Wellington seldom looked like finding a way back into the game. LawrenceNapier applied the finishing touch to another set piece on 75 minutes to seal the Zebras’ fifth win of the season and consolidate their position in mid-table. Next up for the Zebras is a trip to Barnstaple Town on Saturday, October 22, before returning to Raleigh Grove a week later for the visit of Ashton and Backwell United. Sherborne earned a point with another Henry Lawrence-Napier strike giving them the lead in a scrappy encounter at Springfield. Lawrence-Napier’s strike, early in the second half from Anth Herrin’s centre gave the Zebras the lead, only for the hosts to equalize with a wellworked McKayle goal with 20 minutes remaining. The visitors, with a quartet of first-team regulars sidelined, were left to rue missed chances to increase their lead, and a share of the spoils was probably a fair result as both sides struggled for supremacy on a difficult playing surface. Honours were even in a goalless first half, with Alex Murphy and Ben Wood going close for the visitors, and Josh Attwood forced into a couple of smart saves in the Zebras’ goal.