MORWENSTOW manager Dean Davis is looking for a season of consolidation as they prepare for life in the newly-formed St Piran League East.

The village club, which is situated about 15 minutes north of Bude, finished second last year in Division One of the East Cornwall League and have accepted the opportunity to move up to Step Seven to take on the likes of last year’s East Cornwall Premier League champions St Austell seconds, old rivals Bude Town as well as nine other reserve teams of clubs in the South West Peninsula League.

The Greens are made up mostly of players from the local area and in strikers Sam Hockin and Norman Foster have plenty of firepower at their disposal.

They open their league campaign at home to last year’s Duchy Premier League champions St Mawgan (2.30pm) on Saturday, August 17, before heading down the A39 to Wadebridge Town Reserves three days later for a 6.30pm kick-off.

The derby dates with Bude see them head to Broadclose Park on Boxing Day (2.30pm) before hosting the return on Good Friday (April 10).

Davis (pictured right), who’s about to start his second season in charge, admits he can’t wait to get started.

He said: “We’re really looking forward to it. I don’t expect us to finish second like we did last year but we’re looking forward to the challenge and trying to do as well as we can.

“The majority of the players want to play against the best teams and at the best grounds. In the past we’ve had options to drop down divisions but hopefully joining the St Piran League will help us attract more players if we’re successful. We’re always looking to progress. Being a village club can be a problem with that, but we’ve got a really good local squad, who are a great bunch of lads.”

Despite being almost guaranteed to have to face plenty of SWPL-standard players when they take on some of East Cornwall’s biggest clubs, Davis doesn’t expect them to be battling away at the bottom.

He said: “Our target is to be mid-table I would think. If we are around there we would have done well. We haven’t added to the squad a lot, but we have two or three new faces which hopefully will be signed on soon, but we’re always looking for more.

“But with it being a new league, nobody knows what to expect, but our worry will be playing against a lot of the bigger clubs’ reserves.”

Davis is particularly excited about the return of a former favourite.

He said: “Two or three players we’re 90% sure are going to sign with us and nobody has left.

“Aaron Gregory our goalkeeper has come back, he went away and played for the likes of Wadebridge and Camelford. He then got married and built his house which is now finished, he’s a player of a higher level but is a local lad and wants to play for us.”

With the leagues being restructured, for the first time in many years, Morwenstow will face Bude’s first team in a league fixture, and Davis knows better than most what to expect.

He said: “It’s the game everyone is looking forward to. I’m a former Bude player and manager so I’m looking forward to returning. Last time I played there I scored the winner for Holsworthy.”

The Greens also got their pre-season campaign underway on Saturday with a 7-1 defeat against Northam Lions, before hosting Hartland Clovelly firsts last night (Wednesday).

Next Saturday (August 3) sees two Redruth United teams visit North Cornwall with the reserves in action against the Redruth counterparts.

The highlight for all Morwenstow players and supporters in pre-season is a derby date at Kilkhampton. Less than five miles separate the two clubs with many players having turned out for both over the years.

Davis said: “We’ve got a lot of ex Kilk players, everybody knows each other but it’ll be a great occasion. We then finish our preparations with an away game at Barnstaple on Saturday the 10th before our league opener the week after.”

The seconds, who are now under the guidance of trio Dave Salisbury, Kyle Brown and Robert Pengilly, were third from last in last year’s Intermediate Two of the North Devon League, but a host of new players, including Salisbury’s son Owen, means expectations have risen.

Dave Salisbury said: “We’ve got an influx of youngsters, some of whom came through the youth ranks at the club and have now returned. We have a squad of over 25 players, which means the biggest challenge is going to be to keep everyone happy, but we’re fairly hopeful of doing well in Intermediate Two.

“We played a friendly against an experienced Week St Mary team the other day and won 2-1 and we had a friendly against Northam Lions Reserves on Saturday (3-2 defeat).

“The management team is me, Kyle Brown who is a youngster and Robert Pengilly who was the reserve team manager last year. We’re hoping to blend a bit of experience with youth and do a lot better than last year.

“We’ve significantly strengthened the squad in terms of quantity and quality.”

Both teams are keen to point out that strong performances in the second team will be rewarded.

Davis said: “I’ll be taking a few of the second teamers for the friendlies. A lot of them are 16 or 17-year-olds but I’ll be seeing them play first-hand tomorrow (last Saturday).

“If some of them are better than the firsts they’ll be swapping, we’re a club not two teams.”

Salisbury added: “We know it’s a big step up from Intermediate Two to the St Piran League but we operate as a club. If the players perform they know there’s a chance for them to progress.”