Gunning for Snipes
GREAT Yarmouth Town's preparations for the new season step up a gear tomorrow when they take on Sutton Town AFC in the first of their pre-season matches.
GREAT Yarmouth Town's preparations for the new season step
up a gear tomorrow when they take on Sutton Town AFC in the first of their pre-season matches.
The visitors to the Wellesley (kick-off) ply their trade in the Abacus Lighting Central Midlands League top division to which they were promoted the season before last, having only been formed in 2007 to replace a previous incarnation of the club which played in the Northern Counties East. The Snipes, as they are nicknamed, are from Sutton-in-Ashfield, near Nottingham, play in claret and blue and their manager is Danny Bryant, a former player with Nottingham Forest and Scarborough.
Yarmouth began training on June 22 and have seen excellent turn-outs at the Monday and Wednesday evening sessions, according to vice-chairman Stuart Griffin: “Numbers have
been great, 40 to 45 every night,” he said.
“As far as I'm aware, we have not lost any players from those who were here at the end of last season,” Griffin continued, “and we have so far made two significant signings in Marcus Saunders and Craig Roberts.”
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Central defender Marcus Saunders has movedfrom Lowestoft Town where he was a member of the Blues' Wembley FA Vase Final squad the season before last. Saunders has played for Yarmouth before: in season 2000-2001, then under current manager Paul Tong, he was in a squad that also featured a young Stewart Roach, who later that season moved to Lowestoft for a spell.
Defender Craig Roberts is highly thought of and Tong is “over the moon” about signing the youngster, who had a spell at Norwich United.
“We have been actively looking to add to the squad to address my concerns of last year that we lacked strength in depth, and these two fit the part,” said Tong.
“For tomorrow's game, we will have a mixed squad to call on, what with holidays and work commitments, and in the pre-season games generally we will, as usual, be experimenting to give everyone an opportunity to show what they can do before the big kick-off on August 8.”
