LAUNCESTON Football Club’s first team manager, Gary Jeffery says his side ‘are overachieving’ after an excellent opening five months to the season.

The Clarets finished 11th last season in the Carlsberg South West Peninsula Premier Division with 50 points from their 38 games but scored just 56 goals, the seventh worst in the league and didn’t fare too well in the cup competitions either.

However, the new season has seen a dramatic improvement with the Pennygillam outfit picking up 31 points from 20 games with nine wins, four draws and seven defeats to sit eighth in the table.

Last Saturday’s Walter C Parson Funeral Directors League Cup third-round clash at Mousehole was postponed, meaning they start the New Year in both cup competitions, having also reached the last 16 of the RGB Cornwall Senior Cup.

Jeffery believes that a much stronger squad has been the key to their improvement as they aim for a top-eight finish and good cup run.

He said: “We’re overachieving in the league at the moment and we’re still in the cup competitions. If we’d played and won our League Cup tie at Mousehole last Saturday we’d have been in a home quarter-final against Teignmouth who are in the league below. All in all we’re doing well I still think that we’ve left some results out there which could have seen us push for the top four but I’ve got to be happy.

“The strength in depth we have this year has been a big help. At times last season we were a bit short but this year when we’ve had players out we’ve been able to replace them with players of equal quality.”

Having a squad of 18 players all capable of starting can have its problems, but Jeffery has been delighted with the camaraderie of the group.

“The togetherness and trust between the players has been excellent. There’s been no real issue. At times it can be hard work for the players mentally but they’ve got to do what Ruben Kane did at Parkway in our last game. He came on as a substitute and changed the game. The luxury I have is that I can rotate, rest and drop players depending on the opposition and how I want to play.

“At some point, they know they may be left out. Liam Tilley started just one of the first five games and he’s been a regular for most of his 19 years at the club but he’s now back in and playing every game. But it’s the beauty of having a big squad, I have a lot of flexibility. I wanted a squad of players who can play in different formations and are adaptable and I can now do that. I can change formation at any time and not have to necessarily have use my subs to do that, although they’re also more than capable of coming on and carrying on in the same way.”

Striker Sam Davey, who has 23 goals and 14 assists in all competitions, including 19 in the league, has grabbed the headlines, but Jeffery was full of praise for a number of his players’ efforts.

He said: “Sam Davey is in the team to do that but he’s contributed in nearly every game. To have his record at this stage of the season is incredible. However, there have been lots of other impressive performers.

“Liam Prynn joined us in the summer from St Austell and he plays on the left of a front three and he’s been great. He’s shown lots of discipline but has scored ten goals and could have got even more.

“Callum Watson has arguably been our most consistent performer. He doesn’t score much or assist a great deal but he’s just such a good all-round player and is so trustworthy. He’s about a 8.5 out of ten every week and has only had one slightly off game.

“I’d also like to give a special mention to Charlie Hardcastle at left-back. He’s been consistently good and is only going to get better. We have a really good young squad and everyone’s sticking together. You’re always going to lose the odd player throughout the season and we’ve only lost two. Ryan Tetley missed a lot of pre-season and found himself down the pecking order so he moved to Millbrook while Sam Hill decided to move to Callington, which was pretty disappointing. He wanted regular football but had played in ten of the 12 games so far, but that’s the way football goes sometimes.”

One player Jeffery has high hopes for is towering teenage central midfielder Reece Thomson. Currently on the education programme at Plymouth Argyle, and standing at 6ft2ins, the 18-year-old impressed when the chance has arisen.

He said: “I’m not scared to give youngsters a chance to play. I’ve got Reece Thomson in the squad at the moment and he’s like my young Patrick Vieira. Although he doesn’t play a great deal at the moment he’s waiting in the wings and impresses everyone when he gets the chance.”

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Jeffery is optimistic.

He added: “Before the season started we wanted a top-eight finish and we’re on course for that although I feel in a couple of games we’ve let ourselves down. I said to the boys that if we continue to strive for it we could finish in the top six but to break into the top four at the moment is a huge challenge. At the moment we’ve got our eyes on catching Falmouth but we know that there are a lot of good sides like Bodmin and Helston who are behind us who’ll be looking to push on in the second-half of the season.

“However we’ve given ourselves a great platform to build on and we need to make sure that we’re on it now.

“We could have got and should have had a point at league leaders Plymouth Parkway in the last game if it wasn’t for a poor penalty decision from the referee so it shows that we can do it. The main thing we need to do is turn up with the same intensity against the teams in the bottom half. We seem to do better against the top teams so we need to be more consistent and get over this mental problem, so we’re at it all the time.

“However, I’m very proud of the players’ achievements and progress so far even though I feel that we can still push on and improve collectively and as individuals.”

The Clarets will get their next chance to show Jeffery just that on Saturday when they travel to Sticker (2.30pm) in the third-round of the Cornwall Senior Cup.