CALLINGTON Town boss Dean Southcott feels his side have ‘plenty to be pleased about’ as they look to kick on even further in the coming months.

The Pastymen sit third in the South West Peninsula League Premier West table – two points clear of Penzance who come to the Ginsters Marsh on Saturday.

Southcott feels they are in a good place to kick on, adding: “It’s fair to say we have plenty to be pleased about. This is my third season with the club, with Simon (Riddle) and Jamie (Walsh) joining me after that first year. We finished seventh in season one, at the time the highest SWPL finish the club had achieved, before bettering that last season with a fifth-placed finish.

“The aim this year was to improve again, put ourselves around the top of the table, and see if we could begin to compete for trophies.

“While we suffered a penalty shootout exit in the Vase and defeat to Torpoint in the Senior Cup, we’ve established ourselves as a competitive and consistent league side. Having the second-best defensive record in the division, alongside the fourth-best attacking output, shows our current standing is a fair reflection of the work that has gone in.”

While Southcott admits the top two of Liskeard Athletic and Elburton is probably out of reach, he wants them to attack every game they play.

He continued: “There’s no getting away from the fact Liskeard and Elburton have set a strong pace, and we remain a little way off them at present. With plenty of games still to play, however, points will be won and lost by everyone. At the same time, we can’t afford to take our current position for granted. The chasing pack is a strong one, full of teams capable of taking points from anyone on their day.

“As pleased as we are with our progress, we’re also honest enough to admit that, so far, we’ve largely won the games that may have been expected of us. To really kick on, we need to start picking up results in the bigger fixtures, home and away.

“The recent win against Falmouth was the first time in my two and a half seasons here that we’ve taken three points despite being second best for large periods.”

Callington have a reserve team full of promising youth players and Southcott feels their model will bear fruit.

He said: “We’re a small town club and have worked hard to ensure what we are building is sustainable. I’m extremely proud of the players, past and present, who have contributed to getting us to this point and everyone involved is here for the right reasons.

“Out of the current squad, Jake Mead-Crebbin is the only player who wasn’t playing St Piran’s League football before signing for us, while Fin Harrison joined from Liskeard around this time last season but spent time with our development side to regain momentum after limited game time and injury issues. That shows the pathway we are trying to build and reflects our wider approach.

“Bringing together players with a similar mindset has made it easier to introduce young talent. This season, we’ve used 15 different development players in first-team fixtures, 13 of them teenagers. While we do have a couple of players approaching 30, our average squad age is 23, which bodes well for the future.”