Tenbury United 9 Kingstone Rovers 0

FORMER Wellington captain Dale Withers says he does not regret leaving the villagers to join Tenbury United.

The Leominster lad’s switch to Tenbury has been the catalyst for border club’s outstanding maiden season in Herefordshire League Division One.

Withers was one of the best central-defenders in the West Midlands League Premier Division and his dad, Noel, a familiar figure on the touchline.

Withers made the move to Tenbury because he now has a young family and is enjoying life at Palmer’s Meadow with Aaron Morris, another ex-Wellington man.

Withers said: “I am loving my football now. I’ve been welcomed in by a great group of lads. I couldn’t wish to play with a better group of mates and I am just enjoying my football.

“That is the main thing for me now. I turn up and enjoy the game, no matter the result.

“Some of these lads have got 10 years left but, for the likes of me with perhaps only two or three to go in football, it’s important that I enjoy it.”

Withers was the stand-out player and scored twice as Tenbury thumped Kingstone Rovers 9-0 in last Saturday’s Jock Handley Cup tie.

Ian Patterson also bagged a brace, while Nicky Stocker, Robbie Farrar, Ryan Morris and captain Mike Foster added to Tenbury’s tally.

United led 3-0 at the break and then struck six goals in a pulsating 20-minute period in the second half.

Tenbury have also won eight wins from eight matches in Herefordshire League Division One and it a far cry from last term’s struggle in West Midlands League Division Two.

Tenbury travel to Ledbury Town Reserves this Saturday for a vital league match.

Player-manager Nicky Stocker said: “We don’t really too much about Ledbury. They’ve lost a couple of games but I think they will be more worried about us than we will be about them.

“If we can keep a clean sheet we will beat anyone in the league.

“No-one can stop us from scoring goals, we’ve proved that, and Ledbury will be worrying about what we can do. If we go there and play our natural attacking game then I’m confident we will beat them.”

Stocker says it is refreshing to be winning matches after last season’s thumping defeats against the likes of Hereford Lads Club and Bartestree.

Stocker said: “We didn’t know how this season was going to go.

“Last season we struggled massively in the league and sometimes we were phoning people at midday on a match-day trying to get a side together.

“Sometimes we played with only eight or nine players so the main aim this year was to try to get the youth involved.

“Everyone has gelled really well so far. Looking at the table now, and the calibre of teams we’ve played, we should win the league and it should give us a good foundation to have a real crack at the Premier Division next year.”

Withers says the team formed a strong bond after excellent pre-season preparation.

Withers said: “We did play, purposely, a lot of Premier Division sides in pre-season and they were tough games for us but vital to get the lads some experience of playing at a good level. It has given us the basis for the great start we have had.

“If you look at the teams we played over the summer they are now the top three teams in the Premier Division so we’ve got plenty to look forward to.”