Pitchero Non League

...having stepped into the manager's hot-seat at Merland Rise.

The former Leatherhead assistant-manager, who still runs the Leatherhead academy, took over the reins last month after Graeme Banyard decided to step down.

He co-manages the team with Dave Tidy, who was Banyard's assistant, and together they have overseen three wins from their five games in charge, lifting them club from twenty-first in the Premier Division to fifteenth.

Banstead have struggled in recent seasons - they were beaten 11-0 by Windsor FC earlier this campaign - but Gough has a long term plan that he hopes could see them back in the Ryman League. "The whole idea is to get them as high as they can be this year and then next year is next year," he said.

"We have done OK but we are certainly not going to get carried away and we still look to improve things.

"The boys have been great.

"I was told before I came that the average you got for training was nine players but we had 22 on Tuesday and now there are players ringing us and asking if they can come down.

"It is all moving in the right direction but Rome wasn't built in a day and we will get some results that are not what we want but you have to get on with it."

Gough's involvement in the Tanners' first team ended when Mick Sullivan was sacked in September and he admitted it didn't take long for him to miss the management bug.

"Graeme had pretty much made a decision that he was going to call it a day and, as I know him quite well, he asked me if I would be interested," he added.

"I have been itching to get back into management for a while and I knew a lot of the players here so I took on the challenge.

"Dave was here already and the more boys you have around the more you can rely on.

"First-team coach James Deacons stayed as well and we have got a young physio that does some work with Chelsea so we have got some good boys around us."

Banstead, who lost 2-0 to Dorking last Saturday, go to Ash United today hoping for a repeat of their 3-2 victory against them last month.

"It is a winnable game and, without getting too ahead of myself, I would go believing we should be getting three points," said Gough.

Tags: News | Banstead Athletic

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