Kennedy pleased by Tigers' displays

They are eighth in the NCEL Premier with 12 games still to play and although promotion isn’t on the cards, a good end to the season could see them hit the ground running come August should the current crop of players stick together.

And caretaker manager Kennedy is keen to see that happen.

He said: “At the moment, only three or four of oursquad are over 24 and a good few are teenagers, yet we are playing really well against some very decent sides. We’ve lost some key players in recent weeks but it hasn’t affected us too badly.

“That can only be a good thing moving forward because if these players keep impressing there is a good chance they’ll form part of the team next season depending on how things are at the club, and on the evidence so far that can only be a good thing.

“It’s actually a shame we’re not still in any of the cup competitions because I feel we’d have a good chance of winning one of them.”

A three-game winning run was ended by second-placed Pickering Town on Wednesday night, Ryan Cooper’s winner ten minutes from time earning the title-chasers the points after Kyle Jordan’s penalty and a Mitch Husbands goal had initially turned around a half-time deficit.

Kennedy said: “Pickering are a really good side that has stayed much the same throughout the season and yet for long spells in the game I thought we were the better team.

“In the end they were just that bit more clinical with their chances which is why they’re up where they are. I think they only had five or six shots on goal but scored three of them.

“But to compete against a side that are going for the title and to run them so close is a good marker as to where we are at, and there will be similar tests still to come.”

Last Saturday saw Worksop overcome local rivals Retford United 2-0, the hosts battling hard to stay up but remaining in the bottom three.

Kennedy added: “It was a difficult one because the pitch was awful which is always a real leveller. Sometimes it’s about grinding out the result rather than playing good football, especially on a pitch like that, so it was good to get the three points.

“Arguably against Pickering we played far better on a decent pitch but still lost the game so it shows the dilemma you have sometimes of weighing up whether to prioritise the performance or the result.”

This weekend sees Worksop ‘host’ their landlords Handsworth Parramore before a fortnight off ahead of the visit of Harrogate Railway Athletic on February 25.