Wayne Benn has wished Harry Viggars all the best after his prodigy’s shock exit from Ossett United.
Viggars recently decided to leave Ossett, just a few months after ending his long tenure of service at Hemsworth Miners Welfare to reunite with his mentor Benn.
“He rang me three or four weeks ago to say he wasn’t enjoying his football,” Benn told Non League Yorkshire.
“It is a shame because we offered him a platform for him to showcase his ability and it was long overdue for him to play in the NPL. It is a shame that so soon into his time with Ossett United that he has decided to leave.
“I’ve got a long association with him and I’ve managed him boy to man and I have to say I’m disappointed that he feels Ossett United is not the right club for him. I am sad to see him go and I wish him well and he’s a great lad and talent.
“He was 17 in the Hemsworth first team when I first met him and he was a striker back then and we converted him into a centre-half. The rest is history and he’s become a superb player and one of the best centre-backs in the league. I think myself, Chick (Andy Hayward) and Andy Hart deserve some credit for that.
“He was playing for Hemsworth’s under 19s and was in and out of the first team as a striker when I came back from Goole (in 2013). He came to us one day after one particular game when we had no centre-halves and he said ‘I played centre-half when I was younger’. We put him in and that was that and he became a hell of a centre-half.”
Ossett are now off the mark in the NPL Division One North West at the sixth attempt after last week’s dramatic 3-2 midweek victory over Widnes at Ingfield.
Ossett were 2-0 down after 25 minutes and had to score twice in the final ten minutes to win and Benn hopes the critical result can provide lift-off for their season.
“We were banging on the door pretty much all second half,” he said.
“We huffed and puffed for the first 20 minutes (of the game) because Widnes were defending deeply and it was tough to break them down.
“We kept grinding and grinding and as soon as we got the first goal it was a matter of time before we got the second goal. You’re never too sure you’re going to win it after coming back from 2-0 down, but we were creating chance after chance and the second and third came along quickly.
“We had that little bit of luck before their centre-forward got sent off quite early in the second half. Whether that made a huge difference? I don’t know because we were well on top at the time.
“I just felt we were well worth the win and I can’t praise the boys enough because there was a lot of pressure on that game because Widnes hadn’t won in the league either.
“At 2-0 down it would have been easy for the lads to get desperate, easy to lose their shape, their discipline or start playing direct. They stayed with it and showed a great amount of character and resilience and got the result they deserved.
“It was a shame we didn’t have a game on Saturday to try and build on that performance and momentum. Fair play to the lads, they’ve took some knocks so far, but it is very early doors and it is a very new side.
“It takes time to gel and when you chuck in all the injury problems that makes it even harder. There has been reasons for the slow start and I’ve said all along that we’ll be a team which will grow into the season and as once we get our injured players back, I think we’ll kick on and I still think we’ll have a positive season and see progression on last year.”
One of the reasons for Ossett’s frustrating start has been the injury list and Benn has paid tribute to several players in his squad.
“I do have to mention Cameron Clark, James Burke, Ross Hardaker and Max Dearnley,” he said.
“They’ve done ever so well individually. As a unit we have lacked a bit of cohesion because of all the centre-halves who are missing. Cameron is primarily a left-back. Burkey can play centre-half, but is a right back. Because of all the problems they’ve having to play centre-half.
“We’ve lost Jack Cowgill, Eddie Cass and Harry so we’ve lost all the height and presence. They’re doing a great job under the circumstances and all the guys I have mentioned have can be pleased with their form in the last few games.
“But certainly when we get Jack Cowgill and Eddie Cass back it will certainly help us and make us a little more solid.”
Ossett are away at Marske United on Tuesday night.
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.