Defensive woes for Tiverton Town as Paul Kendall goes to Truro
TIVERTON Town manager Mark Saunders is facing up to a defensive crisis this week after losing two of his centre-halves.
Influential skipper Paul Kendall has left to join Conference South side Truro City, while Kevin Hill, who replaced Kendall at centre-back in the 2-0 defeat at Wimborne on Saturday, as been sidelined with a hamstring injury.
-
Mark Saunders
The news could not have come at a worse time for Saunders, who is looking to halt a run of 10 games without a win as he tries to re-ignite the Yellows' push for a play-off place.
Having been top of the table in November, Tiverton now find themselves in ninth place and facing matches against fellow promotion-chasers Shortwood tonight (Tuesday) and then Cirencester on Saturday. Saunders admits they need their luck to change.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Sunday, June 30 2013
"Things were going for us at the start of the season but they are not going for us now," he said. "Paul Kendall is a massive loss because he wears his heart on his sleeve and he puts his head in the way.
"Then you are thinking you have got someone with Kevin Hill's experience to put in there and 20 minutes later he has done his hamstring.
"Hopefully we took him off in time so he won't be out for too long."
Saunders added that Kendall was enjoying his football at Tiverton but was offered too good of a deal by Truro City, who are battling for survival in the Conference South. Kendall joined Tiverton in November 2009 having been sacked by Plymouth Argyle as a youngster for missing a drugs test, which also saw him serve a lengthy ban from the game. He has linked up with his former Argyle teammate Lee Hodges, who is player-manager at Truro City.
"He goes there with our thanks really," said Saunders. "They (Truro City) just gave him an offer that he could not refuse to turn down.
"He has only got a little job really, where he doesn't get paid that much. He is on an apprentice wage and they chucked a fair amount of money at him so he can't really turn it down, as much as he loved playing where he was."
Saunders moved right-back Adam Faux into central defence for the remainder of the Wimborne game.
And while that offers a make-shift solution until Hill is fit again, Saunders admits he has bigger problems to worry about.
"I'm more worried that we can't pass the ball to each other," said Saunders.
"You change the formation and you make changes to the team, but it is like the plague at the moment, it seems to be running through the side."
Comments