Luke Potter insists new-look Hemsworth Miners Welfare are keeping their feet on the ground after a fantastic start to the Toolstation NCEL Premier Division season.
Joint managers Potter and Luke Danville are the brain-boxes behind Hemsworth’s two league victories over Staveley Miners Welfare and Knaresborough Town and the FA Vase triumph over Armthorpe Welfare.
The pair have had to almost start from scratch as the club suffered multiple departures in the summer. But instead of struggling, the Wells have thrived.
“We’ve had two league wins and a win in the Vase in a week so we couldn’t have asked for a better start,” Potter told Non League Yorkshire.
“When Luke, (Rob Tonks) Tonsky and (Steven Jeff) Jeffsy first sat down (to talk about the new season) I think they only had four or five players. We can’t complain and we can’t fault the lads’ work ethic, effort and desire as it has been first class so far.
“I wouldn’t call it a dream start as we’re not getting too far ahead of ourselves because the first half against Knaresborough on Saturday was poor. We had a little chat at half-time and the players produced in the second half. We know we can get better. The commitment and desire of the players got us through Saturday.
“Having had to rebuild, I don’t think anyone would have fancied us to beat two teams who are probably fancied in Staveley and Knaresborough. We are a young squad, but we have got a solid base and everyone is buying into what we are trying to get across.”
The morale around Hemsworth will be at almost record levels as the club have announced that work on installing a state of the art 3G pitch will commence this week.
The Wells have yet to fully outline future plans, but the 3G pitch opens up the door for exciting community, education and football projects.
More information will come out in due course and in the meantime Potter and Danville are concentrating on getting the team through a tricky period as they will be playing away until at least the end of November.
“We’ve facing eight or nine league games away from which is another challenge,” he said.
“It is going to be massively tough and we only have a small squad. We’re going to have some long treks as well like Brid away, but you know what you sign up at this level.
“We’ll all have to chip in and we’ll have to get Tonksy registered at some point. He’s 44, but still thinks he’s 21 in training!
“It is going to be difficult, but we’re going to have to stick together. Nobody probably expected us to have six points so far so we’ll keep our heads down and set our targets.
“The club comes first and obviously it (the 3G pitch) is a long-term investment for the club and we’ve said we’ll get on with it and unless Covid gets in the way we’ll have ten home games at some point which is a positive.
“I know the 3G pitch is a big bonus for the club and it is an exciting time.”
Because of AFC Mansfield’s progression in the FA Cup, Hemsworth have to wait until the 6th October for their next game.
Pocket battleship Jack Wilson will miss that along with the FA Vase tie against his old club Nostell Miners Welfare and the league trip to Eccleshill United because of suspension as he was controversially sent off against Staveley.
Potter admits it is a big shame as the former Worsbrough Bridge midfielder has been a vital cog.
“We’re always looking to add one or two bodies because the amount of games, but (his suspension) it is an opportunity for someone else in the squad to take his place.
“Jack has been probably our most consistent player in pre-season and in the last three games so he’ll be a big loss.
“You could even go as far to say he’s been our best player as he reads the game well and breaks play up and sets the tempo for us.
“It is a shame he got sent off. He probably should have stepped up (to the Premier Division) before now and it just shows he should have been playing higher for a few years.”
If you have enjoyed reading Non League Yorkshire over the past few months, please consider making a donation to the not-for-profit organisation NLY Community Sport which provides sport for children and adults with disabilities and learning difficulties. CLICK HERE to visit the JustGiving page. There is a video at the bottom of the page showing our work.
NLY Community Sport, run by James Grayson and Connor Rollinson, has always had combatting social isolation at the top of our objectives when running our Disability Football teams. As we slowly return to ‘action’, our work will play an important role in reintroducing our players, who have disabilities and learning difficulties, back into society.
We have six teams, a mixture of Junior and Adult teams – Nostell MW DFC, Pontefract Pirates, Selby Disability Football Club and the South Yorkshire Superheroes (Barnsley) – across Yorkshire.
We have enjoyed great success over the past three years. Several of our players have represented Mencap GB in Geneva, including Billy Hobson from Selby and Greg Smith, whose story is quite inspiring.
Like most organisations, we have been affected financially by the Coronavirus and because of the cancelled Lucille Rollinson Memorial Tournament, we are down on projected income for the year and we have incurred losses in the last few months.
We have not been hit as badly as other organisations, but we do need raise £2000 to put us back at the level we were at in mid-March and enable us to make a difference once again to our players’ lives in the future, without having financial worries. Several of our players are suffering from effects of the lockdown and we are determined to be in the strongest position possible to provide services for them.
Any amount raised above £2000 will be put towards new projects (when the world returns to normal) designed to further benefit people with disabilities and learning difficulties. You can learn more about the organisation HERE and on our Facebook page.
Watch the video below to see highlights from our three years as an organisation. The video was produced for our players at the end of March to remind them of good memories from the last three years.