Danny Howes is “priceless as a captain” according to his Penistone Church manager Ian Richards.
Lad local Howes has been turning in man of the match performances for Church so far this season – his 12th campaign having being with Penistone throughout all their unprecedented success under the Richards brothers.
Howes has developed from a Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League player into a top NCEL Premier Division midfielder and he also skipper Church during their greatest year in 2017 when they won the League Cup at Bramall Lane and promotion out of Division One.
“He’s been brilliant for me and I’ve never really had anyone approach me for him or managers comment on him,” Richards told Non League Yorkshire.
“He’s so valuable to us with how we play and as a captain. He’s been with us since day one. He came as an 18-year-old and he did a couple of seasons in the County Senior as a left-back and then as he’s matured and developed he’s become a mainstay in our midfield.
“He’s got better and better. He’s box to box, his engine is brilliant. He loves a 50/50, loves a challenge and breaks up play. I don’t know if you have seen the highlights from Saturday, but the thing he has developed over the last 18 months is that he can create and do a little bit more in the attacking third.
“We have a really strong professional relationship and he leads by example on the pitch and he does everything I ask of him. He’s the person I go to if we want to change something mid-half so he has good footballing intelligence as well.
“He’s not under-rated because we rate him highly at the club, but he’s not rated or known highly across the league so he doesn’t get the credit he deserves. He turns 30 this season and he’s played over 200 NCEL games and he’s close to 400 overall for Penistone and he’s been so consistent in those games.
“He’s a Penistone lad and his dad watches every game and as captain he’s lifted trophies at Bramall Lane and he’s been involved in finals and FA Cup game so he’s achieved a lot of success for a lad who signed for us as an 18-year-old from Oxspring.
“I’d say to any young player to look at his attitude, his work ethic, look at how much he listens and does what you ask. Don’t get me wrong he can wind you up sometimes, but he’s priceless as a captain.”
Howes has been on the score-sheet twice during Penistone’s mixed start to the league campaign. Church have won three and lost three. Although the table is very unbalanced because of postponements for Covid-reasons or FA Vase commitments, Church are 13th and six points from the top three.
Richards feels Penistone should have done better and admits his side need a run of wins to ensure they do not fall away from the promotion race.
“The only game I was fully disappointed with was the Albion Sports because we dominated that,” he said.
“But we had a poor first ten and conceded and then gave away a sort penalty. We dominated in terms of chances and shots on targets which we didn’t convert.
“The Mansfield one; for 45 minutes we contained them and for 15 minutes of the second half we were the better team by far and we scored. We just couldn’t get the second to go 2-0 up and if we had done that we would have gone on to get at least a point. They then scored twice very quickly and we folded a little.
“Then the other loss was Liversedge and they are favourites to win it for me. We worked hard and contested with them, but we couldn’t create enough in and around their penalty box to put them under any pressure. That was the one we deserved to lose, but the other two I was disappointed with because we did enough to win them and we didn’t.
“All three were midweek games, one at home and two away. We have won our other two home games and we beat Bottesford away. Obviously Saturday (5-0 win over Grimsby) was a highlight as the second half is what you expect from Penistone Church and we have done well in the FA Vase.
“I’m disappointed we have not picked up more points. If I had been talking to you about four wins and two losses I would have been happy with that as it is two points-per-game.
“After Saturday we have two home games in the league and we need to win both and that will put us back in the mix. We need to get a run together and with a potential backlog of games in April and May we can’t be outside that top eight in March or April as it will be a too difficult climb.
“I’m confident we can get there or there abouts. I don’t think we need to be in the top three right now. You look at teams who have done well in the past, they have always come late with runs. Worksop Town, for example. I’m not saying we’re out of winning it, but the aim is top three and if we get there on the last day of the season I don’t mind or care.”
The home FA Vase first round tie with AFC Liverpool tomorrow is their second game under the new Tier 3 lockdown system.
Several managers have already called for financial assistance for affected clubs and Richards admits it is a concern for Penistone if the 28 days under the rules are extended.
“From a personal level, we should be okay for the short term for the month that they’ve said it will be in place for,” he said.
“That’s because of the excellent fundraising and sponsorship we got during the lockdown.
“Saturday was our first game without the bar open and it is a massive loss to our community. Before Covid we used to have 100 plus in there for a good hour and half after the game because all the reserves used to come back.
“Clubs who rely on that are going to miss it and find it hard. We’re going to be ok in the short term, but we couldn’t do it for the next six months.
“We also have Penistone Footpath Runners down there, the pool competitions, there’s something going on most nights. We have all the Sunday sides, all the astroturf users who come in for a drink afterwards.
“So it is not just us on a match day, it is other avenues of revenue that we’re going to miss. We do need it to change, but it is a balance. You can see that Non League being played is positive mental health for people. I just hope clubs don’t fold or have to cut anything because of Tier 3.”
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.
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