As they set about the task of making their stay in the Pitching In Southern League Division One Central as short as possible, Hitchin Town have called upon the services of a player with plenty of higher level experience.
Right-sided defender, Josh Jackman, spent almost a decade at Slough Town, where he played over 300 games for The National League South club as well as wearing the captain’s armband.
Now he has accepted a fresh challenge as the Canaries eye an immediate return to Step 3 and they started off on the right foot at the weekend with a hard-earned but deserved 2-0 victory at a Hadley outfit who made the play-offs at the end of last season.
“The first game of the season always carries that bit extra,” he admitted to us. “As a player, at the end of pre-season you’re desperate to get into the competitive stuff and there is all the anticipation of what lies ahead.
“Nothing is won or lost on day one, of course, but it’s all the more enjoyable to start with a positive result - so I enjoyed every second of Saturday!
“Now that we’re into the League campaign, performance can sometimes be secondary to the result. We know that Saturday wasn’t our best performance but what bodes well is that we still found a way to win and keep a clean sheet.
“Hopefully, we’ve got more to come and will be looking to build on Saturday to reach the potential of what this group can achieve.
“I’m massively looking forward to the challenge ahead here this season. It was one of the main reasons why I joined the club.
“Deciding to leave Slough at the end of last season gave me the chance for a fresh opportunity and when I spoke to Jonesy [manager, Michael Jones] in the summer, it was clear that the ambitions for the club were exactly what I was looking for in the next chapter of my career.”
So, what is the 33 year-old expecting from Division One Central this term?
“It’s clear that non-League football is getting stronger over time and that’s something I witnessed year on year in The National League South,” he said. “This then ripples across the football pyramid, so I’m expecting Division One Central to be hugely competitive with a lot of good players - some who are maybe more experienced at higher levels and others that have ambitions to step on.
“I expect there will be plenty of twists and turns as ever! It’ll be no surprise that the target for the club is to achieve promotion back to Step 3 at the first attempt.
“There is also something bigger within that because Hitchin Town have had a tough couple of seasons and we want to reward the loyal fan base with the football feel-good factor once again.
“So, it’s a target that extends beyond the pitch as we want to positively impact the whole town. For myself, all of the above is the most important thing! I’ll be doing everything I can to contribute to that on the pitch whilst also trying to use my experience to help the younger lads to develop and get the best out of themselves.”
Elsewhere, fellow new-boys, Marlow, went down to a 2-0 defeat at Barton Rovers, there was a 2-1 home win for Biggleswade Town over Enfield, whilst London Lions succumbed to a 4-1 reverse at Flackwell Heath.
MK Irish lost an entertaining home game against Welwyn Garden City 4-2 as Rayners Lane went down 2-1 at home to Biggleswade FC.
IMAGE: Peter Else
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