MARK ASHWELL insists there is still a lot for Wokingham and Emmbrook to play for in the remainder of the season.
Sumas sit third bottom of Hellenic Division One East with just four wins so far as their hopes of an immediate return to the Hellenic Premier fade further by the week.
Their cause was not aided by Saturday’s waterlogged postponement against Didcot Town Reserves which means Clive McNelly’s charges still have to go back to November 26 for their last victory.
And club president Ashwell admits he had hoped for some more joy on the field this season.
“I suppose it is a bit disappointing,” he told The Wokingham Paper.
“We’re consolidating.
“We’ve had some really good performances and we’ve got some young lads who have come through the ranks.
“They will be making up quite an achieving side.
“It is a little bit disappointing but it’s quite a competitive division really.
“It’s probably the lowest we’ve been really which is frustrating given the fact it’s probably the highest we’ve been off the field.
“Usually it’s the other way around, having to go groundsharing because our facilities haven’t caught up with our achievements, but now our facilities are going to be there and our achievements have gone the other way.
“Once we get them both together it will be great.”
One big positive for Sumas this campaign has been the return to the borough with home football now being played at Lowther Road again.
And Ashwell hopes to have a new 50-seater and 50 standing stand in place as well as new floodlights by Easter 2018.
But the president admits the current boss, McNelly, who stepped up from the reserves to replace Dan Bateman and Matt Eggleston as first team manager in the summer, may not be
in the hotseat for a number of years.
“Clive has been around here for a long time,” said Ashwell.
“A lot of the players he’s got in the squad now he coached at Under-11s and he’s known all of them for years.
“I think he’d be the first to admit that he’s not looking to be Wokingham and Emmbrook’s manager for loads of time.
“He’s just looking to set the base really now for a good achievement in the future.”
And Ashwell is confident good times are just around the corner.
“We’re looking to be promoted next year for when the floodlights are in,” he said.
“We won’t this season, we always knew it would be a bit of a consolidation season.
“But we’ll finish in the top half – you watch us go on a run from now onwards.”
He added: “We’ve got nice local derbies against Woodley and Finchampstead and we’re still in the Reading Senior Cup so there’s plenty left in this season.
“We won’t lose many from now on.”
