HALESOWEN TOWN | WINNING SMILE

Long-serving 'keeper has a new club record to get his teeth into

A little bit of history was made on Bank Holiday Monday when Daniel Platt broke the goalkeeping appearance record at Halesowen Town.

The popular custodian chalked up his 336th outing in the 1-1 Pitching In Southern League Premier Central draw with AFC Telford United to beat a record that had stood for almost 40 years.

“I am extremely proud to have broken the record,” he told us. “This club means so much to me; it has 150 years of history behind it, so for me to break a club record here is incredible and extremely humbling.

“As it was getting closer, you start to think am I going to do it, but it was amazing to get it over the line and in a game with such a big crowd too.”

Platt has painful memories of his early days at the club almost a decade ago.

“I remember having a good pre-season in 2015 and was going to start the first League game of the season as first choice,” he recalled. “But then in the final pre-season game I had four teeth knocked out and so I had to miss the game.

“That really was the catalyst for my affinity to the club, though, because the fans rallied around to raise funds to help pay for the teeth that I had lost. Things like that you don’t forget; to do that for a new player meant a lot to me.

“There have been so many happy memories over the years; the play-off game two seasons ago quickly springs to mind for obvious reasons. We were such a close-knit team and to achieve promotion together was really special.

“We have the chance to do something similar this season and we’re really looking forward to what lies ahead over these next few weeks.

“As a team we’ve made massive progression this season. The Gaffer has done an amazing job to build a strong team and in my opinion, the squad is now the best it’s been all season.

“We’re in great form going into the play-offs and whilst we have kicked ourselves about the points we’ve dropped which mean we’re now just out of the title race, it will all be forgotten if we can go up via the play-off route and that’s where our focus is.

“On a personal note, it’s been pretty much how I’ve done it throughout my career. I’m a steady-eddy type of goalkeeper with no fuss, just trying to perform seven out of ten in each and every game. I am happy with the way I have performed this season with as little mistakes as possible.

“I can’t wait to get stuck into the play-offs. We’ve got as good a chance as anyone; we’ve been solid defensively and we’ve got players higher up the pitch who can effect games in key moments, but, as everyone knows, anything can happen in the play-offs.

“Hopefully it will be our year and with the support that we have, it would be a great way to end the season, so bring it on!

“This has been another competitive season in the Premier Central. There’s been no stand-out team and those in the bottom half of the table have been so much better than previously. The standard has improved massively over the past few seasons and that is testament to this level and how much more professional it has become.

“I think the fans can see that too and that’s why the numbers attending games at this level are increasing all of the time. It’s great to see.

“I’m really enjoying my football and I just want to do that for as long as I can at the highest level possible.”

An away trip to play-off hopefuls, Stamford AFC, brings the regular season to a close on Saturday for Platt and his team-mates.

IMAGE: Steve Evans

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