While the club have made no secret of their ambition for promotion from National Two South this season, new hooker Gavin O’Meara has warned against complacency.

After spending five seasons in the higher reaches of the National Leagues, O’Meara knows what it takes to achieve success – consistency.

“The thing about the National Leagues is that it’s a war of attrition,” he says. “No team is miles better than any other. It’s about being consistently good over the course of the whole season.

“Make no mistake, this is a tough, tough league and if you have ambitions of winning it, you have to have the mindset of winning every game.

“Take Old Albanians, for example. They have come down from National One and they are a seriously good side, well drilled and will be one of the favourites to go up. They literally run everything, kicking’s not in their DNA. You come off that pitch and you need a new set of lungs!

“Some clubs would be happy just to run them within 10 points – but we should want to beat them and lay down a marker.”
O’Meara insists that this is the mindset the club must take going into the new season. “So far there has been no real mention of Elthamians which is good, because we want to take sides by surprise,” he says. “We’ve got a tough first four games, three against sides who finished above us last year. So we want to hit the ground running and come out all guns blazing.

“I’m excited, it’s a good place to be and if the plans all come together, it can only get better.”