Falla's return boosts Hamon

VALE REC coach Chris Hamon is, and needs to be, a patient man. His natural enthusiasm coupled with an outstanding coaching ability deserves to be rewarded with having quality players at his disposal.

It is unfortunate then that the club have had such rotten luck with injuries in recent times.

As Hamon himself said: 'Potentially we can get out a very strong side - if we had everybody fit and healthy.'

He added that it could be the new year before that happens.

'Matt Patch has had his knee operation and is on the road to recovery - he could be back around Christmas time.

'David MacNab will also, hopefully, be back around Christmas, although Danny Bisson's injury is a little bit more serious and requires an operation so we might not see him this season.'

In the shorter term, one of Rec's stars of last campaign, Gareth Holden, has picked up a knee problem and missed a couple of weeks of training.

Island defender James McColl, meanwhile, has been absent pre-season due to his wedding.

However, Hamon cannot contain his delight at the return of a former Muratti man of the match.

'Matt Falla is back in the fold this year and he is like a new signing for us.

'He had a couple of very bad years with injuries and decided to take a year or two out of the game.

'He is now back in training and I am very excited having him back. He is a great player, has a great football brain and knows how to score goals.'

It was a mixed season for the green-and-yellows last time around.

An indifferent start was followed by a fine run midway through only for things to peter out as late injuries and suspensions hit the squad again.

It is no wonder, then, that Hamon's main aim for this campaign is to be 'more consistent' and to that extent he has been working on player attitudes.

He reckons that the pre-season signs have been encouraging.

'We played Rovers and won 6-0 with a team made up of those who have been training but some of whom will not be first-team regulars. Their attitude on what was a hot day was excellent and they worked for 90 minutes.

'If we get that good work ethic in there consistently, their natural ability will come out.'

Apart from saying that the hope is 'just to have a good season', Hamon has gone the way of most other coaches by not setting any specific aims.

'It is difficult to assess what is going to happen - I couldn't tell you where we will finish up,' he said.

'What I can say is that we will always go out and try to play good football on the deck and look to win our games by doing that.

'Realistically, when we have everybody fit, we should be OK. On our day we can compete with anybody.'