TEENAGER Luke Griffiths is looking forward to a bright future at Westfields following his first-team debut last weekend in a 4-0 Midland Alliance win over Rocester.

The 17-year-old full-back, who also captains Hereford United's Football and Education Programme team, is the grandson of one of Hereford United Giantkillers, Roger Griffiths.

Roger played for 80 minutes of the game against Newcastle game with a broken leg and was short-listed for the FA Cup Team of Heroes after a poll ranked him as United’s all-time greatest FA Cup defender.

Roger, who died in 2006, was also a full-back and, with his weekend performance, Luke might not be too far away from being given the opportunity to emulate his grandad.

“I had Luke for two years at Hereford and he was unlucky,“ said Westfields coach and former Bulls goalkeeper Dan Connor. “He should have got a scholarship when he was there, but he had a back injury in his scholarship year and wasn’t really able to train, “He’s well worthy of a place across the road at Edgar Street and, without tempting fate, if he’s still playing for us in a year or two’s time I can see him going back there as Joel Edwards and Sam Gwynne have done.”

After being on the fringes of the first-team for four or five weeks, Griffiths was clearly delighted by the opportunity given to him by manager Sean Edwards.

“I’m really enjoyed it; it was good to get out there,” he said. “For the last few weeks I’ve been itching to get in the team and not been picked.

“So when Sean said I was getting my chance today I thought I better go out there and show them what I can do and thankfully I did.

“I want to keep in the first team now, it’s a great standard of football, the lads have made me feel welcome, and it’s just a great club to be at.”

Manager Edwards was fully justified in giving Griffiths his opportunity, stating that Luke was a young talent that he had had his eye on for a while.

“We wanted Luke last year, but due to his back he wasn’t available,” said the Westfields boss.

“He’s come in and he’s trained, I’ve allowed him to stay with the first team to monitor what he’s doing and I felt that it was the right time to bring him in, regardless of who was or wasn’t available.

“He trained on Thursday and looked as sharp as ever and now he’s got to know the squad it’s easier to put him in.

“What really impressed me is that he was running as quick and hard in the last minute as he was in the first; he was great and Luke’s going to be here for a long time.”

Luke’s man-of-the-match performance inspired Westfields to just their second home win of the season and in the process ended a run of five straight defeats at allpay.park.

One of the reasons that manager Edwards feels his side’s form has been below-par this season is a distinct lack of goals having lost key players upfront. But, on Saturday, Edwards was able to recall the services of top hit-man Richard Kear who, he believes, has been a big miss to the side.

“Richard came and helped us out today as Lydney didn’t have a game and we were missing a lot of players,” he said. “It worked out nicely with him grabbing a goal, which wasn’t a big surprise to anyone.

“He’s a top player who guarantees you 25 goals a season and that’s often the difference between a good season and a great season.”

But with Edwards not having Kear as a regular option this season, he is looking for his other strikers to step up to the plate, something that new signing Jamie Insall has started to do.

“We brought him in from Littleton as he was banging goals in for them,” said Edwards. “He’s scored again today and he’s been great. That’s his fifth goal in six games now, so it’s something we very much hope he can continue.”

Insall feels very much at home at Westfields having played at the club when he was a youngster.

“I’m enjoying it, there’s a lot of difference between the clubs and it’s a big step up for me,” he said. “I’m just trying to give it another go - I had started to lose interest in football but since I’ve been back here I’ve started to regain some form and found my love of the game again.”

There was no denying Insall’s form as it took him just 25 seconds to get on the scoresheet in the 4-0 win over a dogged Rocester side.

The first-half was all Westfields with Insall’s header giving them a lead which Brad Birch increased 10 minutes before half-time, slotting the ball home following good work from Insall, who rounded the keeper before unselfishly playing in his strike partner.

With a strong wind in their faces at the start of the second-half, Westfields took around 15 minutes to get back into their stride. Kear came off the bench and following some excellent play from Griffiths down the right wing, coolly clipped the ball over the keeper to make it 3-0.

That wasn’t it for Kear’s involvement in the game as, just four minutes later, his lay-off found Marcus Giglio who delicately chipped the ball over the on rushing keeper to make it 4-0, sealing the three points that Westfields’ dominant performance deserved.