Sills Moves Swiftly to Tie Up Quartet for 2023/24

Wimborne Town, who lost in the Pitching In Southern League Division One South play-off semi-finals to Sholing, have moved quickly to tie down four of their highly rated players for 2023/24.

Manager Tim Sills has set the disappointment of losing to the Boatmen aside to start planning early for next season and Dan Bartlett, Harry Baker, Harry Morgan and Oakley Hanger have all signed contracts and committed to the Magpies.

Bartlett, 22, contributed 10 league goals from his 30 appearances in 2022/23.

He joined the Magpies in December 2021 from Southern Premier Division South neighbours Poole Town.

He had signed for the Dolphins in August 2021 and was at Premier League Southampton until he was 18 and then signed a two-year deal at Championship outfit Coventry City.

He was released by the Sky Blues in the summer of 2021 following significant injury problems during his stay there.

Baker is a 29-year-old forward who joined Wimborne in late May 2022 from league rivals Frome Town and scored 11 times in the league this season.

He had only been with Frome since March 2022 after joining from former league rivals Barnstaple Town, where he had been since January 2022.

He had moved the short distance from Poole to Salisbury in June 2020, having travelled along the Dorset coast to Poole from Weymouth in May 2019.

The forward signed for the Terras in the summer of 2017 after an impressive season at Western League side Gillingham Town.

He scored 19 goals in his first season at Weymouth and his high-energy and work-rate made him very popular with the Terras’ fans.

Hanger is a 27-year-old defender who also signed for the Magpies in May 2022 and played 35 times this season.

He had re-joined neighbours Dorchester Town in July 2020, having originally made his debut in 2014.

He became a regular at the Avenue Stadium at full-back, going on to make over 60 appearances before moving to the USA, where he completed a four-year scholarship at Saginaw Valley State University, also playing for the Lander Bear Cats.

Morgan is a 27-year-old midfielder who scored 9 times in 35 league games this term.

He signed for Wimborne in November 2020 having played a starring role with then-Wessex Premier side Bashley for the previous year and a half and several higher-level clubs were expressing interest.

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