Bishop and Sodbury Ressies hungry for more on strength of Premier Combination joy
CHIPPING Sodbury Town Reserves’ ace marksman Justin Bishop says his club will kick-off next season’s mission craving more success on the strength of their latest promotion triumph.
The 2015-16 Bristol and District Senior Division champions hit the ground running entering their first campaign as a Bristol Premier Combination force last September and never looked back, going on to win 17 of their 20 fixtures ahead of their away-day with Real Thornbury on Saturday, April 22 to gain promotion at their very first attempt.
Former Yate Town, Mangotsfield United,Winterbourne United and Longwell Green Sports striker Bishop had bagged 24 goals for the term to put himself in contention to conclude the season as the division’s most potent sharp-shooter, after relinquishing first XI duties with Sodbury’s successful Toolstation Western League team at the end of last term.
While the 36-year-old is keeping his eyes firmly trained yet on title prospects for his second-string starlets amid a two-horse race to the line involving current pacesetters Shaftesbury Crusade, he enthused: “The great thing is we’ve been very much a team in our own right; we’ve had no one from our first team propping us up at any time aside from our centre-half Andy Criddle, who turned out a couple of times to get up his match fitness.
“We’ve had a good, regular side to call on from start to finish and a lot of young players from our under-18s and men’s A-team have been instrumental in getting us this far, lads like Jack Dando, who has been brilliant at the age of only 16 filling in at times for our usual keeper Mike Pike, and Nathan Brown, who can play in central midfield or upfront. Then there’s Jon Morgan, Ross Amos and Dan Brown who have all made the step up from our thirds.
“We’ve also had a consistent front three in Jon Morgan, Danny Coombes and me and the beauty is that we’ve always played with a fluid, interchangeable 4-3-3 system and had the personnel with the intelligence, discipline and adaptability to make it work.
“The management team of Les Theobald and his assistant Ian Jevons have instilled a really strong work ethic in the group, demanding we give 100 per cent in every game and it’s paid off.
“It’s helped too that there’s a few older hands, myself included, to help the youngsters along, lads like Chris Simsek and Lee Gardiner, who are in their mid-30s, and Danny Coombes, who is in his early 30s. So there’s a good balance throughout.”
Bishop is no stranger to success. Sodbury’s new women’s team, which he runs in tandem with club manager Scott Gibson, missed out on goal difference only to champions Frampton Rangers in their maiden voyage in the Gloucestershire County Women’s League.
The striker won two Hellenic One West titles with Tytherington Rocks and another with Winterbourne, while last season he was a jubilant Toolstation first division medal recipient with Sodbury’s fast-emerging first team holding their own promisingly this term in the league’s top section.
He said of next term’s potential Bristol Premier Combination top-tier challenges: “We’ll approach the new season with a belief we can win that league, although it will be hard; it’s a big step and there are some good sides in it.
“I can’t see that we’ll have too many problems scoring goals but a bit of work may be required at the back if this season is anything to go by, as we’ve sometimes needed to score a lot of goals to win our games!
“In the meantime I don’t want us taking our feet off the gas now that we’re promoted; it’s important we all focus on trying to go up as top dogs now we’ve got ourselves in this position.”
Former Yate Town, Mangotsfield United,Winterbourne United and Longwell Green Sports striker Bishop had bagged 24 goals for the term to put himself in contention to conclude the season as the division’s most potent sharp-shooter, after relinquishing first XI duties with Sodbury’s successful Toolstation Western League team at the end of last term.
While the 36-year-old is keeping his eyes firmly trained yet on title prospects for his second-string starlets amid a two-horse race to the line involving current pacesetters Shaftesbury Crusade, he enthused: “The great thing is we’ve been very much a team in our own right; we’ve had no one from our first team propping us up at any time aside from our centre-half Andy Criddle, who turned out a couple of times to get up his match fitness.
“We’ve had a good, regular side to call on from start to finish and a lot of young players from our under-18s and men’s A-team have been instrumental in getting us this far, lads like Jack Dando, who has been brilliant at the age of only 16 filling in at times for our usual keeper Mike Pike, and Nathan Brown, who can play in central midfield or upfront. Then there’s Jon Morgan, Ross Amos and Dan Brown who have all made the step up from our thirds.
“We’ve also had a consistent front three in Jon Morgan, Danny Coombes and me and the beauty is that we’ve always played with a fluid, interchangeable 4-3-3 system and had the personnel with the intelligence, discipline and adaptability to make it work.
“The management team of Les Theobald and his assistant Ian Jevons have instilled a really strong work ethic in the group, demanding we give 100 per cent in every game and it’s paid off.
“It’s helped too that there’s a few older hands, myself included, to help the youngsters along, lads like Chris Simsek and Lee Gardiner, who are in their mid-30s, and Danny Coombes, who is in his early 30s. So there’s a good balance throughout.”
Bishop is no stranger to success. Sodbury’s new women’s team, which he runs in tandem with club manager Scott Gibson, missed out on goal difference only to champions Frampton Rangers in their maiden voyage in the Gloucestershire County Women’s League.
The striker won two Hellenic One West titles with Tytherington Rocks and another with Winterbourne, while last season he was a jubilant Toolstation first division medal recipient with Sodbury’s fast-emerging first team holding their own promisingly this term in the league’s top section.
He said of next term’s potential Bristol Premier Combination top-tier challenges: “We’ll approach the new season with a belief we can win that league, although it will be hard; it’s a big step and there are some good sides in it.
“I can’t see that we’ll have too many problems scoring goals but a bit of work may be required at the back if this season is anything to go by, as we’ve sometimes needed to score a lot of goals to win our games!
“In the meantime I don’t want us taking our feet off the gas now that we’re promoted; it’s important we all focus on trying to go up as top dogs now we’ve got ourselves in this position.”
Article courtesy of the Gloucestershire fa
Published: 24/04/2017
