MALVERN TOWN | BEN BACK FROM THE BRINK

What a difference a year makes for Ben Hayes

Just 12 months ago, Malvern Town’s Ben Hayes was facing up to the reality that his playing career could be coming to an enforced end.

Persistent injuries over the past couple of seasons had left him frustrated, but fast forward to today and he is playing regularly again and enjoying his football, even long midweek jaunts down to Brixham AFC, where he was amongst the scorers in a 4-1 Pitching In Southern League Division One South win on Tuesday evening.

“I’m just enjoying being back on the pitch, to be honest,” Hayes told us. “A big chunk of last season and most of the season before I was out with injury, which was tough, but now I appreciate everything that bit more, so long away trips such as the one on Tuesday don’t faze me.

“A year ago I thought I might have to stop playing, but stayed persistent and thankfully I’ve managed to stay fit this season. Overall I’m really enjoying being a key part of the squad again and contributing to the team’s success as we find ourselves in amongst the leading pack.

“To go down to Brixham on a Tuesday night and get such a commanding victory is credit to everyone involved.

“It was a good overall away team performance after a long journey as we battled the traffic. I don’t think it was a great game of football and we probably weren’t at our best, but we were organised and did the basics well, which was enough to get the three points.

“For me, it was great to get 90 minutes under my belt and also get on the scoresheet to help the team keep our winning League run going.

“I feel that I have done okay over the course of the season so far. Obviously coming back from a long time out, it does take time to re-adjust to the demands, but I am feeling fitter and sharper as each week passes by.

“I would have liked to have started more games, but we have a great squad with plenty of depth, so everyone has a role to play.

“We’re sat in a good position; apart from a couple of disappointing results, we’ve given ourselves a solid platform on which to build from as we go into the festive period, which is always a key time of the season.

“Division One South is fairly open this season. There’s no clear front-runner this year; I’d say that there are five or six teams who are all battling it out in what is quite a tight-knit leading pack.

“Bishops Cleeve are probably the favourites as they have a strong squad and games in hand over the rest, whilst Frome Town are a good side and always do well at this level.

“We’re definitely worthy of being in amongst the leaders and our aim is to stay there and fight in and around the play-off places as we have done over the past couple of seasons.

“The management team don’t tend to let us look too far ahead, though, and insist we take games in blocks as we know how tough the League can be if you become complacent.

“We’ve had a decent start so we just need to keep building game by game and see where that takes us towards the end of the season.”

A trip to Bristol Manor Farm awaits Hayes and his team-mates on Saturday.

IMAGE: Nigel Crisp

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