Debutants on show in 9 goal thriller
The Mikes unveiled more ‘new’ signings in the Reserves 5-4 home victory over Quorn on Saturday. Lyndon Weller has returned to the club following a short spell at Atherstone Town. The pacy right-sided player came through the youth team and reserves to be involved in the first team squad for most of the last two seasons. After being introduced as a late substitute against Quorn, Lyndon made an immediate impact, setting up the winner for Johaine Thompson with his first touches.
Another product of the Mikes’ youth team system who has returned to the club is centre back Richard Dunleavy. After breaking into the reserve team at 16, Richard left to join the Burton Albion academy before moving on to join former Mikes youth team manager Paul Casey at Hednesford Town.
Dunleavy’s centre half partner against Quorn was 19 year-old Sam Simmonds, who joins from Aston Villa, where he has been since his days as a scholar. Sam also operates at right back.
Simon Volante also played his first competitive game for the club. Although he featured for the first team in pre season, injury and holiday held up Simon’s debut. Largely recognised as a holding midfielder, Simon joined in the summer from local rivals Coleshill Town. He featured heavily in their 2007/08 Midland Combination championship winning side and their first season back in the MFA last year.
Joint-Manager Rob Clarke commented: “Like last week, all of the debutants contributed. Richard and Sam couldn’t have faced a tougher strike pairing in this league, especially with very little match practice between them. They stood up to it well, and will only benefit from today to improve their match fitness. The same applies to Simon, who took a while to get into the game, but then showed how economical he is with the ball. It's over a month since he played, so it was sensible to take him off as he tired later on. Lyndon had little time to make an impact, but showed everybody what he is capable of when setting up the winner immediately after coming on.”
