Glassboys mission not about revenge, insists Weymouth boss (From Dorset Echo)

Glassboys mission not about revenge, insists Weymouth boss

8:00am Friday 15th March 2013 in Football By David Williams, Sports Reporter

REVENGE will not be at the forefront of the Terras’ minds tomorrow when they go up against play-off rivals Stourbridge (3pm).

The West Midlands club put five past Weymouth at the Bob Lucas Stadium in November but boss Brendon King insists his team’s focus is solely on the present.

The Terras take a five-match winning streak to Stourbridge, who themselves are unbeaten in four with three victories and a draw.

King has received a boost with the news that Dan Smith is available again after missing the last two matches with a fractured right hand.

But Stourbridge manager Gary Hackett, whose side sit second in the Evo-Stik Premier Division just a point ahead of the Terras, could unleash new signing Ben Mackey tomorrow.

The league’s second highest goalscorer has joined from St Neots Town and is set to make his home debut for the Glassboys.

And while acknowledging their opponents as one of the top teams in the league, King believes his men have nothing to fear.

He told Echosport: “It’s a huge game and they are a good side, no doubt about it, but so are we.

“The boys have belief and they have gone about their business well.

“We have shored things up at the back and made ourselves a lot more difficult to beat.

“Everybody has put a good shift in and that’s all we can ask for and the quality we’ve got means we are going to cause teams trouble.”

On that 5-1 reverse at home to Stourbridge last autumn, he added: “We had two sent off so were down to nine men in that game and it was difficult.

“We’ve got confidence and momentum now and are more solid than we were back then. I think we are a better side now than we were then.

“It’s not about revenge at all.

“We are going up there to get something out of the game.

“We know it’s going to be difficult but the boys are buzzing and they don’t know when they are beaten.

“Stourbridge are a very good side going forward and break quickly when they have the ball so we know it’s going to be tough.

“Ben Mackey is a right handful, he is strong and scores goals, and has got a good touch.

“But the good news for us is that Dan Smith’s hand is out of the cast and he will be available.

“He missed Hemel Hemp-stead and Banbury so it’s a positive for us he’s back and he gives us another option going forward.

“I was expecting the worst with him being in a cast and thought it could be three weeks or more.”

As for Hackett, he says new man Mackey is “excited by the challenge” of joining Stourbridge.

The powerful striker, who has 21 league goals to his name this season, has signed until the end of the campaign and his arrival comes at a good time for Stourbridge after James Spray’s return to AFC Telford United following a spell on loan.

“The key thing for me speaking to Ben was realising his hunger and determination to play for Stourbridge,” said Hackett.

“We were alerted to the fact he was available and he said a lot of positive things about us.

“He is a proven goalscorer and is keen to get us into the play-off places at the very least.

“I think a strike partnership of Ben Mackey and Luke Benbow is one which will excite a lot of people.”

Terras (from): Evans, Palmer, Poole, Wells, McConnell, Skinner, Clay, Duff, Joyce, Ford, Walker, Smith, Reed, Tribe, Groves, Clarke, Povall.

*Weymouth FC is hosting a soccer fun week over the Easter Holidays. The four-day event will begin on April 9 at the Bob Lucas Stadium with daily sessions set to run from 10am to 2pm.

The soccer school is open to all boys and girls aged between six and 11 years. For more information call Andy Campbell-Bell on 07786734574.