Downham add to squad ahead of Cornard home clash

Downham Town hope the arrival of talented wide man Dylan Kirk will boost the club’s attacking options in the second half of the season.The Thurlow Nunn Premier Division play-off hopefuls have lacked goals this season and manager Dale Stokes believes Kirk’s signing from Ipswich Wanderers can boost the club’s firepower at the Memorial Field.”Dylan was someone we knew about last season,” said Stokes.”He played against us and was regularly popping up catching our eye. We then tried to bring him in at the start of the year but he had contract offers from higher up which he took.”You naturally track his progress this season and as soon as we saw the management was changing, we decided to try our luck.”I gave the new manager a ring and just enquired, as we expected he would turn to experience and his own players, which he has done, so it worked out perfectly for Dylan to come across to us.”He will add more pace and goal threat to our attacking line-up. He can operate anywhere across the forward line, is direct and can use both feet. So we expect him to have a positive impact. “As has always been the case, I’m keen to get younger players in and try to help them progress or get back to where they should be. “He won’t be available for the weekend but he should be ready to go for the following Saturday.”Sixth-placed Downham host Cornard United tomorrow, but injuries will force Stokes’ hand with team selection.Goalkeeper Duncan McAnally broke a bone in his ankle in the 1-0 League Challenge Cup defeat at Ely City on Tuesday night and is expected to be sidelined for several months, while Jack Gould also left the pitch with an injury. “We have a bit of an availability issue again at the moment, which is coinciding with our run of results,” said the Downham boss.”The last month or so has seen us without both Castellans, Jack Gould, Marley (Delgado), Eoin (McQuaid), Dylan (Edge), Jake Miller and Gelson (Rocha). “It’s so difficult to get something going when you have to change three or four players every game, particularly when it’s constantly breaking up working partnerships and having a different spine of the team from one game to the next.”I have to say the ridiculous scheduling hasn’t helped, with 17 games in 10 weeks. For example, you might have a player missing for one or two games, but with the way they’ve crammed our fixtures in, those players are missing three or four instead.” Elsewhere this weekend, league leaders Fakenham Town welcome Yarmouth Town to the Daly Group Stadium while Heacham travel to Hadleigh United.In the Thurlow Nunn First Division North, Swaffham Town travel to AFC Sudbury Reserves.