HOLSWORTHY Football Club’s first team manager, Liam Dart, believes that the club can still push for a top-six finish in Division One (West) of the Carlsberg South West Peninsula League despite a difficult autumn.

The Magpies are currently eighth in the league having won six, drawn four and lost six of their 16 league games.

That’s a vast improvement on last term, which saw them finish 15th with 38 points from 34 games, with only Bude Town, Penzance and Vospers Oak Villa ending up below them.

The Upcott Field club started the season strongly with a win and three draws before losing four of their six league games in September, although they did pick up big victories over Illogan RBL and Mousehole in the process.

However a controversial 5-3 defeat at league leaders Ludgvan, which saw the referee play 18 minutes of injury-time and the home side come from 3-1 down, coupled with injuries and availability, meant that Holsworthy endured an even worse October.

They lost 5-1 at home to Millbrook before winning 1-0 at WBW Solicitors South Devon League Premier Division high-flyers Kingsteignton Athletic in the second-round of the Devon Premier Cup.

A week later they were dumped out of the third-round of the Walter C Parson Funeral Directors League Cup after being thrashed 5-1 by Teignmouth who play in Division One (East) of the Carlsberg South West Peninsula League.

A 0-0 draw in the league at home to Wadebridge Town stopped the rot before they began their November fixtures by bowing out of the Devon Premier Cup after a 1-0 defeat to Macron Devon and Exeter Football League Premier Division leaders Elmore at Upcott Field.

The Magpies’ season was in danger of fizzling out as they plummeted; however they ended 2017 on a high with three league wins from four, including two away wins in the space of three days at Dobwalls and Bude Town on Boxing Day. Since then they’ve not played due to the weather.

Dart believes that injuries were the main reason for the poor run in form and pointed to the game at Ludgvan.

He said: “The turning point for me was at Ludgvan. We were 3-1 up in the 93rd minute and the referee played 18 minutes of injury-time and we lost 5-3. We then got a 0-0 draw at home to Wadebridge but then we went and conceded ten goals in two games against Millbrook and then Teignmouth in the League Cup.

“The injuries and suspensions we had during October were a killer. We lost James Dart for three games, Lee Clarke for three games and we had to change formation. Also our four strikers — Tudor Placinta, Connor Nash, Adam Smith and Dan Wilson were all out for varying periods of time so we had to play people out of position at times. The inconsistency in selection was a nightmare but we’re now settled and it’s going well.”

Arguably the highlight of their season has been the introduction of teenage wing-backs Max MacDonald and Jay Thomas. Playing in a 3-5-2 formation, both players have been tasked with bombing up and down the flanks.

Dart enthused: “Max and Jay have been absolutely brilliant since they came in. They were both 16 at the start of the season and they’ve been absolutely great and settled into Peninsula League football really well. Max was injured in October as well and we really missed him, which shows you how well he’s done.

“We’ve also had the likes of Joel Greening, Jake Cartwright and Oalti Arriku step up from the reserves and they’ve done really well. Our summer signings — Lee Gardiner, Connor Nash, Tom Robinson, Dan Wilson and Ryan Chadwick have all had decent game time and proved to be good assets. I’ve been pleased with all of them.

“We’ve got a really good young side with not much experience at this level. Most of them have only played three or four seasons since I’ve been here while a lot of them have played less than that.

“At the moment we’re not in the position to challenge for league titles and Devon Premier Cups like we were a decade or so ago. Even though I’m now into my fourth season in the job we’re still rebuilding and trying to improve year on year.

“I’m a bit disappointed that we haven’t got the points I feel we should, but we’re getting there.”

While the league has gone well in recent weeks, Dart admitted that the cups had been a huge disappointment.

He said: “In the Devon Premier Cup we were knocked out by Elmore. They have a very good squad full of players who played for Tiverton Town Reserves last season in the Peninsula Premier but they didn’t have a shot on target and won through an own goal. To be fair to Teignmouth they absolutely battered us and we never played like we could, which is the most disappointing thing. At the moment we’re not really one of those teams who can turn up and get away with playing at 50% to pick up results. We need to be near our best.”

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Dart believes that the club is heading in the right direction and pointed to the strength in depth.

He said: “We had an absolutely terrible October but we’re doing alright. Since then we’ve only conceded four goals in six games and we’re only about ten points off second, so I’m disappointed in that sense but I’ve got to give credit to the players. We’ve kept the squad together and we’re still on course to finish in the top six. We’ve got a good enough squad to do it and I’m also lucky enough to manage a really good bunch of people. We also have a really good reserve and under 18 team, as shown by how well Max and Jay have done. Everyone who comes in seems to step up so hopefully that’ll carry on for the rest of the season.”