Downham sign former Linnets striker

Downham Town will hope the signing of a former King’s Lynn Town striker will give them extra impetus when they kick off their new season next week.The Norfolk Senior Cup winners have brought in Dylan Edge – one of seven new faces to arrive at the Memorial Field over the close season.As well as signing 26-year-old Edge, who has also played for the likes of Corby Town, Spalding United, Wisbech and Cambridge City, Downham have also swooped for Ben Terry,18, Nati Jamba,19, Owen Gilbert, 22, Lagshan Sivakumar, 22, Nick Castellan, 25 and Dan Hobbs, 26.Manager Dale Stokes said: “It’s been a busy summer for us and so far we’ve brought in seven players. There’s possibly one or two more to come but we will see.”We retained most of last season’s regulars, with the obvious ones moving on, as expected. It’s not mass changes but the main issue was what we’ve lost in terms of goals.”It’s always been a battle to bring players in here, and despite recent successes, it’s much harder than you’d expect.”Much like last season, the lads we’ve signed are here because of the way we play. That’s our selling point to be honest. “It’s a compliment to last season’s squad and to the club, that players see us as a place they can go and enjoy their football with relative freedom.” Stokes believes that Downham have assembled a squad with a good blend of youth and experience.”We’ve got four lads under 23 which is something we’ve tried to do in the past, adding technically sound, talented young players that we can try and develop and allow them to push on with their football.”At the other end, you’ve got Dylan, who is still only 26 but has bags of experience already. He’s going to be a key signing for us at the top end of the pitch. “He is a player we’ve tried to get for several seasons now but, as expected, he continued his football at step 4 for the majority.”Dylan can play anywhere across the front and will certainly be a goal threat wherever he is. After what we lost in that area, he is a really important signing for us and we look forward to working with him.” Assessing the rest of the club’s new faces, Stokes added: “Ben came across from Fakenham, although he’s actually from Downham. He was with their 18s and First Team last season. He’s versatile and has done well in pre-season in various positions, including full back and out wide.”Nati spent last season with Harleston. He didn’t get the game time he wanted, the style didn’t suit him to be honest, as they’re much more direct. “After watching him we felt he would be a good fit for us. He’s technically very good, full of energy and has great feet.”Owen is someone we wanted a few years back and he stopped playing football altogether. We felt he was Heacham’s best player last season, so we are delighted he’s decided to come across. He’s been very impressive in pre-season.”Lagshan needed a bit of a restart with his football. He’s decided to come into an environment where he doesn’t know anyone and that’s never easy so fair play to him.”Much like the other boys he has great technical ability, he’s a great lad and wants to learn. “At 22 we feel we can help push him on and develop him as a wide player.”Nick has been around the leagues for a while now. He had a couple of standout seasons at Swaffham in midfield and he’d been a player we often looked at but it never materialised for various reasons.He’s come across now, joined up with his brother and he’s been superb to be fair. His style of play has allowed him to fit nicely into the squad and he has performed well in the pre-season fixtures.”Dan was a bit of an unknown to be perfectly honest. He moved to the area and we had a few conversations about getting involved. He was previously at Newmarket and done well over there. “He’s a direct wide player who has been effective so far. He’s a bit different to the other options we’ve got, so it’s nice to have that available to us.”Downham Town kick-off their Thurlow Nunn Premier Division season with a trip to Ely City on Tuesday week (July 30).