9:23am Wednesday 29th February 2012
By Adam Summers
TREVOR Senior reckons Chris Luke could become a pivotal player for Brid-port over the next couple of months.
The talented midfielder, who joined the club in January from Weymouth, helped the Bees record a 1-0 home win over Longwell Green Sports on Saturday and boss Senior believes his added experience could be just the ingredient his side needs to kick on in the Toolstation Western Premier Division.
He said: “Due to postponements and illness, Chris’ first month and a half here has been a bit stop-start but there is no doubting his quality.
“I started him against Brislington and again last Saturday against Longwell Green and we got points from both games.
“He plays it simple, is a good talker, and his experience is going to be good for us.
“He hasn’t actually played a lot of football recently but he is getting fitter and I have no doubt he can have a big impact here.”
Another player Senior has been impressed with lately is another ex-Terra in Mitch Conning.
He added: “Mitch has come in and also done well. He looked really lively in the first half against Longwell and he is a confident lad as well.
“He is still young and has bags of potential which hopefully we can help bring out of him as time goes on.”
The Bees have not had much luck with injuries in recent times but one man that is on the road to recovery is Dan Peart, who got 90 minutes for the reserves last weekend.
Senior, whose side will take on Lymington Town in a friendly this Saturday (3pm), said: “Dan has had a couple of appearances for the reserves now and it is good to see him playing again.
“His back is still not 100 per cent right and it has been very much a bits and pieces season for him but he is working hard in a bid to come back a lot stronger next term.”
Chris Clarke got the only goal against Longwell, a victory that has taken the Bees 10 points clear of the drop-zone.
Reflecting on the result, Senior said: “In the first half we played some great football and the only disappointing thing was that we were not more than one up at half-time.
“They then came back into it by committing more men forward but apart from two strong shouts for penalties, which were turned down, they never really troubled us.
“One of them was for handball, which we got very lucky with, but over the course of the 90 minutes we deserved the win and it was a big three points for us, particularly with the bottom four all losing and the fact we have to face Bristol Manor Farm and Merthyr Town in our next two league games, which are both going to be very tough.”
The Bees travel to Manor Farm on March 10 before hosting Merthyr on March 20.
Bees: Filkins, Condliffe, C Clarke, Hill, Senior, Hayter, Luke (Watts 80), Wise, Richardson (Morgan 70), Conning (J Charles 75), Legg.
Man of the Match: Chris Clarke Attendance: 113
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