MARK JERMYN has spoken of the “high hopes” Dorchester Town have for Jonah Ayunga.

The forward penned a one-year deal with the Magpies after last Saturday’s clash with Portsmouth Academy following an impressive spell on trial at the Avenue.

After appearing as a second-half substitute in the county town team’s opening pre-season game against Salisbury FC, Ayunga scored the winner at Bridport.

He started the home fixture with Yeovil Academy but picked up a knock in the build up to Mark Irvine’s opening goal, meaning he sat out the weekend loss to Pompey.

But former Bridport Youth striker Ayunga is someone player-manager Jermyn thinks has promise.

He said: “First of all, praise should be given to the Under-18 and reserve-team managers for getting Jonah to pre-season.

“Jonah is relatively unknown but has been very impressive during pre-season.

“Big, strong and athletic, Jonah is raw because of the level that he has played and his age, however, we do have high hopes for him.

“With Ben Watson, Mark Irvine and now Jonah, we have three strikers with various attributes, while Luke Woodland is showing promise too.”

Dorchester host Plymouth Academy tomorrow night (7.30pm).

Watson and Irvine return for the fixture but Chris Dillon won’t feature.