Downham continue to mix it towards top of table

Losing your three main goalscorers would be a huge blow to any team.But on the back of their excellent campaign last season, Downham Town continue to mix it towards the top of the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division table.A place in the play-off remains the aim going into the second half of the season.Manager Dale Stokes spoke to West Norfolk sports editor Greg Plummer about the season so far in his half-term report.It’s your first season in the dugout without Craig Dickson alongside you. How have you found it? It’s different because five-and-a-bit years of working together is a long time and you have a set way of doing things.I wouldn’t say it’s been a drastic change away from matchday though, other than the communication. Over the time we spent together I took the training sessions and I recruited the players, so that’s remained the same. It’s more matchday-wise that has been strange and I’ve had to adapt to.I have Danny and Ryan with me now and they contribute to that, but essentially it’s all on me as the manager and it takes a bit of getting used to.In terms of performances what have been your best and worst of the season so far and why? In terms of impressive periods in a game, the first half at Lakenheath was brilliant.It was so dominant and a joy to watch. It could have been 6-0, but we then let ourselves down and dropped points by giving away sloppy goals.The 1-0 win against Dereham would be up there after having 10 men for 60 minutes and putting in a great team effort against a good side. The worst would be Ely away, it was so disjointed and not a great watch.We’ve had several frustrating ones of late, where we have controlled games but have switched off and lost those games ourselves.How do you view your progress in the Premier Division this season? Interestingly going into the new year we were on the same points as last season after 21 games. We had lost two fewer games this time around but had drawn three more. We scored one more but also conceded one more.So points and goal differences are identical.We knew it would be tough because we naturally had that promotion bounce and momentum last season. So the second one was always going to be harder.We’ve been more dominant and controlled games better but haven’t been anywhere near clinical enough. We lost around 80-90 goals from the squad, that’s pretty much impossible to recover from and evidence has been there for all to see.Consistency with player availability has been particularly disappointing at times. You can’t change your back four every week and expect to keep winning.You have a very young squad at your disposal and were forced into a few changes over the summer, did that change your approach at all? It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do. I’m an advocate of trying to introduce youth whenever possible. Last season we started with two 16-year-olds and a 19-year-old as our front three so it’s not a new thing for me.As a result of that, I also have to accept that teams above us will be on the prowl and we have big rebuilds every season, that’s just part of football.We lost some big players from last season and looking at the 14 players that featured in the Senior Cup final, we’ve now only got six of those with us.Who has had the biggest influence for you on the pitch so far and why? I think actually Jack Gould for me has had as big of an influence as anyone. He’s been criminally underrated over the years.The frustrating element with him is availability and that’s not me digging him out. I’ve told him.It’s no coincidence that when he’s played this season we’ve only lost once and that was at Thetford in the 98th minute.That’s the reason I say him really, because when he’s not there the results tell a story. If we want to push for the play-offs it’s imperative that we try to have some consistency with our back line and spine of the team and he needs to be present.Who has had the biggest influence for you in the dressing room? In terms of atmosphere and the morale-based side of it, Jake Miller is such a positive figure pre-game. He’s just a character that you need and everyone loves him.Football wise you look at people like Matty Castellan and Dunc usually. They’re just so focused and have that natural desire to win.Looking back at the first few months, has there been a turning point as such? We had a tricky run at the start with double-figure absentees regularly.But once that sorted itself we got going and went on a 10-game unbeaten run, nine wins and a draw.They were superb in that spell. We only conceded five goals in those 10 games.That changed again when we had availability issues and an ever-changing 11.During our good run, we had several people chipping in and getting the job done.What are your hopes for the remainder of the season?The aim has always been to look at the play-offs.There’s only been the Thetford fixture where I’ve felt we were genuinely outplayed, and they’re top of the league.I’d say a half-hour spell at home to Fakenham, where they were sharp and impressive to be fair. I’m yet to see Mulbarton but they’re always involved.We don’t want to put any pressure on ourselves because we know as a club coming from where we were in recent years, we aren’t expected to be up there just yet.We are overachieving in reality, but the way we’ve played and the group that’s been assembled, naturally it puts you amongst it and with that comes pressure.Where do you think there is room for improvement and why? Goals and being clinical. Our top scorer has eight and that’s a midfielder.I think it says a lot about us to have got ourselves into such a brilliant position in the table without having a stand-out prolific goalscorer.It shows how good we have been at times so credit to them for that. You’re talking 10+ points minimum that we’ve dropped because of not taking our chances.Who do you think will be contesting the promotion places come the end of the season? The best team I’ve seen are Thetford. So if they’re not involved I’ll be shocked. Brantham seems to be putting a good run together and moving nicely up the table.It only takes a run of three or four wins and suddenly things can change.Removing Downham from the equation my tip for the league would be Thetford and play-off favourites probably Mulbarton as they’re one of those sides who are effective in one-off games.