*BS*Shane Huke on Whites’ 3-1 win against Truro:*BF*

Saturday’s performance was again a tale of two halves. We started the worst we have been this year by a country mile. We didn’t look at the races at all.

After a few minutes we conceded a penalty, a decision we felt was very harsh. This rattled a few cages and within minutes we equalised with a good move.

Corcs picked up the ball and used his pace and strength to go past a player, slipped the ball to Terry who played it across to George. A good swivel on the spot from George and excellent finish across the keeper, sending him the wrong way.

Next was our turn for a “HUH?” moment! A soft penalty but for once in our favour. So up stepped new signing Jemal Johnson to send the keeper the wrong way to score on his debut, but this all came from a great ball from Corcs to switch the play, a bursting run down the right from Starkey who played Jemal in. He crossed it to hit the lads arm in the box.

Over the past few weeks the weather has made the pitches tough to play on and Saturday’s pitch was no exception. Our groundsman has been fantastic in preparing the pitch for us and I’m undoubtedly sure we have the best pitch in the league today and throughout the season, so thank you to him.

Second half we seemed to be a bit brighter and started a lot better. We continued to press and create chances against tough opposition. The two centre halves Ed and Sim’s were excellent at controlling the back and competing against an ex-Premiership opponent (Barry Hayles). These two won everything in and around them.

Our 3rd goal come from a great counter attack. Donovan drifted the ball into Batti, who with one touch found Bricknell in the box. A good half-turn and with one touch he sent the keeper the wrong way to nestle his shot nicely in the bottom corner.

So another win for the lads against difficult opponents, that’s eight games unbeaten in a row now.

A big shout out goes to the lads in the bar afterwards. It was nice to hear a bit of noise and support after the game… cheers!

Hukey

*BS*If you have a question for Shane, leave a message below or via Twitter: *Link1**BF*

*BS*The former Charlton defender discusses his early playing days:*BF*

Throughout their career a footballer can expect to receive a lot of advice, some useful and some not so. Coaches, team mates and even fans will always put their two-penneth in with the vast majority failing to make any kind of lasting effect.

For Whites’ assistant manager Steve Brown one simple piece of advice has helped him shape a 16 year career at the sharp end of professional football.

The sentiment came from Brown’s father, who sat him down as a young boy and told him, “You will get out of life what you are willing to put in”.

Remembering the valuable lesson Steve said, “This is still the best piece of advice I have ever received. I was left with no doubt that the only person I was cheating by not giving my all was myself”.

In fact it was hearing about his fathers footballing exploits that first spurred Steve’s love of the game.

“My Dad played professional football in South Africa for five years before he was stopped by the apartheid. He then came back to play in England and spent the rest of his playing days at non league clubs in the Sussex area. You can definitely say that football was in the family genes”.

Wanting to follow in his fathers footsteps, a young Steve Brown began playing Sunday morning football like every other child. The self confessed ‘glory hunter’ started to support Liverpool, a decision he still stands by to this day, and tried to emulate his heroes Dalglish, Souness and Hansen on the school playing fields of Brighton.

After time Steve’s talents started to be noticed, on the merit of his performances for his secondary school team he was then selected for East Sussex and Brighton Schoolboys. Brown’s career took a huge step forward when he was signed up to train for Brighton on ‘schoolboy form’ for two consecutive years.

It was at this point that Brown hit one of the first obstacles in his career.

“I just fell out of love with football for a time, when you’ve got a squad of 25 boys and only 11 can play you spend a lot of time just training. I missed the competitive edge of matches and as a result I began to enjoy my football less and less”.
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In a bold move the 14 year old Steve decided not to sign up for another year and was released by Brighton and returned to playing for East Sussex and Brighton Schoolboys.

Although this drop could have dealt a huge blow to his prospects Brown stuck to his mantra and continued to apply himself fully. Soon enough his class shone through and thanks to a bit of luck he was picked up by a Charlton scout and offered an apprenticeship at the club.

Although this move was a step in the right direction this was by no means the end of Steve’s difficulties as he pursued a full time career in football.

After adjusting to the sudden step up in class and after a year of sheer grit and determination he had managed to break into the Addicks reserve team. He applied himself in a similar fashion the following year and earned regular reserve team football which then led to a professional contract at the club.

But this success didn’t come easily as Steve explained, “Every single year was tough, I was behind the rest of the boys at the club when I arrived and had to fight to the front of the pack to get noticed”.

Looking back at his route through to his first professional contract he maintains that perseverance and determination have to take precedence for anyone who wants to play football for a living.

After being released from Brighton as a 14 year old to securing a full time position at Charlton in the course of just a few years Steve definitely speaks with experience.

“It’s not about how difficult the climb to professional football is because it’s a certainty that you will face difficulties, everyone will at some point. It’s really about how resilient you are. Lots of players get rejected once, twice, even three times before someone takes a chance on them. You just have to refuse to give up and learn not to take one persons rejection as final”.

Securing the professional contract was a major step for Brown and he now focused his efforts on securing a place in Charlton’s first team. However, little did he know that his career was about to come under threat before it had even got going.

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*BS*The former Charlton defender discusses his early playing days:*BF*

Throughout their career a footballer can expect to receive a lot of advice, some useful and some not so. Coaches, team mates and even fans will always put their two-penneth in with the vast majority failing to make any kind of lasting effect.

For Whites’ assistant manager Steve Brown one simple piece of advice has helped him shape a 16 year career at the sharp end of professional football.

The sentiment came from Brown’s father, who sat him down as a young boy and told him, “You will get out of life what you are willing to put in”.

Remembering the valuable lesson Steve said, “This is still the best piece of advice I have ever received. I was left with no doubt that the only person I was cheating by not giving my all was myself”.

In fact it was hearing about his fathers footballing exploits that first spurred Steve’s love of the game.

“My Dad played professional football in South Africa for five years before he was stopped by the apartheid. He then came back to play in England and spent the rest of his playing days at non league clubs in the Sussex area. You can definitely say that football was in the family genes”.

Wanting to follow in his fathers footsteps, a young Steve Brown began playing Sunday morning football like every other child. The self confessed ‘glory hunter’ started to support Liverpool, a decision he still stands by to this day, and tried to emulate his heroes Dalglish, Souness and Hansen on the school playing fields of Brighton.

After time Steve’s talents started to be noticed, on the merit of his performances for his secondary school team he was then selected for East Sussex and Brighton Schoolboys. Brown’s career took a huge step forward when he was signed up to train for Brighton on ‘schoolboy form’ for two consecutive years.

It was at this point that Brown hit one of the first obstacles in his career.

“I just fell out of love with football for a time, when you’ve got a squad of 25 boys and only 11 can play you spend a lot of time just training. I missed the competitive edge of matches and as a result I began to enjoy my football less and less”.
*Ppic1*
In a bold move the 14 year old Steve decided not to sign up for another year and was released by Brighton and returned to playing for East Sussex and Brighton Schoolboys.

Although this drop could have dealt a huge blow to his prospects Brown stuck to his mantra and continued to apply himself fully. Soon enough his class shone through and thanks to a bit of luck he was picked up by a Charlton scout and offered an apprenticeship at the club.

Although this move was a step in the right direction this was by no means the end of Steve’s difficulties as he pursued a full time career in football.

After adjusting to the sudden step up in class and after a year of sheer grit and determination he had managed to break into the Addicks reserve team. He applied himself in a similar fashion the following year and earned regular reserve team football which then led to a professional contract at the club.

But this success didn’t come easily as Steve explained, “Every single year was tough, I was behind the rest of the boys at the club when I arrived and had to fight to the front of the pack to get noticed”.

Looking back at his route through to his first professional contract he maintains that perseverance and determination have to take precedence for anyone who wants to play football for a living.

After being released from Brighton as a 14 year old to securing a full time position at Charlton in the course of just a few years Steve definitely speaks with experience.

“It’s not about how difficult the climb to professional football is because it’s a certainty that you will face difficulties, everyone will at some point. It’s really about how resilient you are. Lots of players get rejected once, twice, even three times before someone takes a chance on them. You just have to refuse to give up and learn not to take one persons rejection as final”.

Securing the professional contract was a major step for Brown and he now focused his efforts on securing a place in Charlton’s first team. However, little did he know that his career was about to come under threat before it had even got going.

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*BS*Dover Athletic have completed the signing of winger Jemal Johnson.*BF*

The 26 year-old has signed until the end of the season after impressing boss Nicky Forster on trial.

He played in Whites’ 7-0 friendly win against Whitstable on Wednesday, winning a penalty for the first goal.

Born in the United States, Jemal came to England at the age of five, signing for Manchester United and then Blackburn Rovers as a teenager.

After serving his apprenticeship at Ewood Park, he joined Wolverhampton Wanderers and Milton Keynes Dons. He spent three years with the Midlands club, scoring 12 goals in 96 appearances.

In the past year Johnson has experienced Bulgaria’s top flight with Lokomotiv Sofia, where he was one of only a few foreign players. He left Bulgaria last summer and had a short spell with Southend United earlier this season.

Jemal will go straight into tomorrow’s squad for the first ever visit of Truro City to Perrys Crabble.

*BS*Dover Athletic have completed the signing of winger Jemal Johnson.*BF*

The 26 year-old has signed until the end of the season after impressing boss Nicky Forster on trial.

He played in Whites’ 7-0 friendly win against Whitstable on Wednesday, winning a penalty for the first goal.

Born in the United States, Jemal came to England at the age of five, signing for Manchester United and then Blackburn Rovers as a teenager.

After serving his apprenticeship at Ewood Park, he joined Wolverhampton Wanderers and Milton Keynes Dons. He spent three years with the Midlands club, scoring 12 goals in 96 appearances.

In the past year Johnson has experienced Bulgaria’s top flight with Lokomotiv Sofia, where he was one of only a few foreign players. He left Bulgaria last summer and had a short spell with Southend United earlier this season.

Jemal will go straight into tomorrow’s squad for the first ever visit of Truro City to Perrys Crabble.

*BS*Shane Huke’s latest column:*BF*

So as we all know Farnborough was called off due to the weather conditions freezing the playing surface. Not great, but what can you do?!

We were lucky enough to get hold of an inside sports gym where we trained hard and played 6 vs 6 games. Good laugh but also a good quality session which we needed to have a good sweat.

It was good news that the gaffer could arrange a friendly game during the week against local opposition, Whitstable. Just like to say a big thank you for them coming down as we all appreciated playing against them.

In tough conditions, with the rain and the heavy pitch, the lads performed well netting seven times and not conceding. It was nice to blow off a few cobwebs ahead of Saturday’s game against Truro.

I must mention that Baz’s goal last night oozed with quality. A little short corner taken and a great whip into the top corner of the goal, although some say he was trying to find Ed at the far post. No, but honestly, what a strike!

Well done to the other lads for taking their chances and netting a few goals too.

Also, he keeps reminding me to say it so I’d better mention it… congratulations to Lee Hook, who has now played five games and kept five clean sheets… snore!!

So Saturday brings us to Truro at home. As we know, these are a tough team who beat us in our first defeat of the season 1-0 at their place. It didn’t help though when the ref and the linesman fancied sending Tommy off for a trip on their player when apparently he was through on goal.

With the game last night and training tonight I’m sure we are more than ready to face them this Saturday and continue our good run of form in the league, pushing further towards the all important 5th spot.

We hope to see a lot of you down there supporting us; it does really help.

Hukey

*BS*Shane Huke’s latest column:*BF*

So as we all know Farnborough was called off due to the weather conditions freezing the playing surface. Not great, but what can you do?!

We were lucky enough to get hold of an inside sports gym where we trained hard and played 6 vs 6 games. Good laugh but also a good quality session which we needed to have a good sweat.

It was good news that the gaffer could arrange a friendly game during the week against local opposition, Whitstable. Just like to say a big thank you for them coming down as we all appreciated playing against them.

In tough conditions, with the rain and the heavy pitch, the lads performed well netting seven times and not conceding. It was nice to blow off a few cobwebs ahead of Saturday’s game against Truro.

I must mention that Baz’s goal last night oozed with quality. A little short corner taken and a great whip into the top corner of the goal, although some say he was trying to find Ed at the far post. No, but honestly, what a strike!

Well done to the other lads for taking their chances and netting a few goals too.

Also, he keeps reminding me to say it so I’d better mention it… congratulations to Lee Hook, who has now played five games and kept five clean sheets… snore!!

So Saturday brings us to Truro at home. As we know, these are a tough team who beat us in our first defeat of the season 1-0 at their place. It didn’t help though when the ref and the linesman fancied sending Tommy off for a trip on their player when apparently he was through on goal.

With the game last night and training tonight I’m sure we are more than ready to face them this Saturday and continue our good run of form in the league, pushing further towards the all important 5th spot.

We hope to see a lot of you down there supporting us; it does really help.

Hukey

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