Kingstone Press League 1 Preview: Gloucestershire All Golds v South Wales Scorpions

Correspondent

For University of Gloucestershire All Golds coach Lee Greenwood Friday’s game can’t come soon enough.

“We’ve been looking forward to this for a while, it’s been quite a long pre-season,” he said.

“I’m new to the job and we’ve had a massive turnover of players and are still bringing players in.

“We’ve played three friendlies and three cup games so I’m starting to whittle down the lads who I feel are capable of playing at this level.

“I don’t know much about South Wales, I’ve watched the videos of their two cup games against Rochdale and York.

“They seemed to struggle against Rochdale but two weeks later against York they looked very competitive for large periods. With young lads similar to us I’m thinking they might have the youngest squad and us the second youngest.

“With young lads you get inconsistencies but they tend to improve a lot quicker than older guys. South Wales did improve over that two weeks and I’ve seen the same with our lads.

“It’s who improves the quickest to be honest. Looking at them they’re very enthusiastic and get stuck in and I’m sure they’ll pick up some results as the season goes on. I’ve just got to hope that we can get the points on Friday.”

South Wales Scorpions coach Mike Grady said: “We’re looking forward to it and glad that the league is finally kicking off. I hope we can improve or keep the same level of performance we had against York, I was pleased with that.

“But most of all there’s no pressure on the boys, I just want them to go out there and enjoy it.

“We’ve had a bit more preparation time this year and we’ve got a few Academy lads in there to bring a bit of energy to the group.

“It’s been good to have a couple of months to get everyone bonded and the lads have enjoyed it and are looking forward to the game.

“Gloucestershire must have about seven or eight lads from South Wales. I know those boys and there’s some quality in their squad.

“With the lads knowing each other, it adds a bit more spice, it’s a local derby and I suppose anything can happen on the day. But there’s no pressure on the lads, they just need to go out there and give their best.”