Well, I’m delighted to welcome back to the Toolstation Western League podcast, Tom Smith, the manager of Welton Rovers. Tom, thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us. Congratulations on your win on Saturday. What did you make of your sides performance? Asks Ian Nockolds. Listen to the full interview below:

Tom Smith: Well, we dominated from the early stages, to be honest with you. It was horrendous conditions. As we were driving down on the team coach, it was absolutely pouring down. And there were question marks whether it was going to be on or not, we got down there, the pitch was saturated. We had a tiny little warm up area, which in credit to Millbrook, no fault of their own, they tried to accommodate us as well as they could. It couldn’t be helped that the conditions were awful. I’ve seen a lot drier pitches be called off. We travelled down there, the boys travelled down, the fans travelled down, we wanted it on. I think the ref made the correct decision in the end, but come the end it was a quagmire. So it was a difficult one. But we show great resolve and we dug deep. We got the first and then they got a bit of an equalizer against to run a play, we had to dig deep and go on and get the winners. And then once we did the floodgates opened a little bit in the later stages of the game. But I don’t think anyone you know, including their team and their management would question the result. I think we thoroughly deserved it. But yeah, it was a little bit more of a battle come the end than maybe we would have hoped before the start of the game.

Ian Nockolds: Because it had been quite a while since your last win. That was back on September 9th and at a time you were in a real purple patch, back to back wins against Torpoint and Saltash and I thought things were really looking up for you. But obviously, you know, things have gone a little bit awry since then.

Tom Smith: It’s been tough. I think, in this league, we had it last year as well. I think sometimes you know, there’s never an easy game. And I know that’s cliche, but you’re looking at the fixtures going well, that’s a tough game, that’s a tough game, that’s a tough game. And, sometimes four or five games can slip away from you without a point. And that was the case for us at the moment. When that happens is important, you just stick to basics, keep belief high, trust in the process and know that your team is good enough to come through and get the points. We haven’t been losing by a lot. There’s been a couple of exceptions, where we’ve been by far the second best team there. But you know, you have just got to keep pushing through and keep pushing your beliefs and trusting in your players. It was always going to come and I think we will be picking up a lot of points.

You know we finished 14th, where we are at the moment, last season, and it’s just a case of trying to progress. You know, if we can finish above that again this year and consolidate in the Premier League then, you know, that’s where we want to be. And you know, a few changes around the club as well, unstabilised things a little bit. But look, that’s football and these things you have to push through and we’ve pushed through it now and, and hopefully we’re over the hill ready, you know, ready to push on and get some more points on the board.

The Toolstation Western League interview will continue next week when Ian Nockolds asks about availabilty and travel.

You can listen to the full interview below.