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Keep those wins coming

30/12/2002

SOCCER: New Hyde United manager Steve Waywell got his reign off to a flying start with a 3-1 win at Blyth Spartans.

But the former Leigh RMI boss knows full well that much more of the same is required should the Tigers stay in the UniBond premier division.

Waywell, the former Curzon Ashton boss, Ashton United assistant boss and player at Stalybridge Celtic and Hyde, took over from the sacked Gordon Hill last Friday immediately after resigning his similar position at the Hilton Park Conference strugglers.

Rochdale-based Waywell's decision to drop a division and go straight into another relegation scrap will have raised many eyebrows on the non-league scene, but he felt the time was right to move on once the offer came in from Hyde after seven years in charge at Leigh.

Waywell told the Advertiser: "It's a massive challenge for me I know, but Hyde United really is a sleeping giant - the whole set-up at Ewen Fields is fantastic.

"I know I've dropped down a league but I saw this opportunity as too good a chance to turn down at this moment.

"I feel as though I'm at a football club now. Unfortunately at Leigh the club lacked support and a stadium, and I'd had enough.

"It's not going to be easy to get Hyde out of this mess, the club has had a bad two or three years, but we've already got something to build on after Saturday's victory which was the first on the road in the league in about 12 months.

"I didn't travel up to Blyth with the lads, I met them just before the game and organised them and spoke to each player individually.

"Confidence has already been lifted, but we will take each game as it comes now - there will be no looking at the league table and no match programmes in the dressing room.

"We've got 17 games left so we're not even talking about relegation yet."

Waywell should have an assistant lined up in time for the new year's day derby visit to Stalybridge Celtic. The new boss has signed an 18-month contract.

Former boss Hill was sacked barely two months into his tenure, during which time the Tigers failed to pick up a single league victory.

Results from December 28:
Droylsden 0 Barrow 2, Stalybridge 2 Bradford PA 2, Frickley Athletic 0 Ashton United 0, Salford City 1 Mossley 1, Glossop NE 0 Woodley 1