Wendron United Manager Mike O'Neill reflects on 21/22 season

It was a memorable year with more highs than lows for the Wendron who have impressed many as the season went on. Throughout the campaign Dron were in the thick of a battle for second place in the table, eventually losing out to Liskeard Athletic by just three points despite thumping them 7-0 in their last game of the season. They also boasted some of the league's sharpest shooters with Charlie Young and Cam Wheat scoring 25 and 21 goals in the division.

Giving his assessment on the season the Manager said: "It was a good year, it is hard because if someone had offered that at the beginning of the season I'd have ripped their hand off without a second thought."

"The way some of the elements panned out I think we could have done better in some particular areas. The longer the season went on, the stronger we got. It was a long season, but when the season was finishing we kind of wanted it to keep going a little longer to keep the form and momentum. All the lads need a break. Apart from the Walter C Parson Cup, we exceeded expectation in all competitions, playing five/six more games than we were expecting to.

"There were times when teams were winding down and thinking of next season but we were in the headspace of keeping the momentum because we had a cup final coming up and still pushing for second place in the league as it was at the time. Neither of those things happened and that was disappointing but I was pleased with the season."

Charlie Young (shooting on goal against Bodmin) claimed Dron's top scorer award.

They had success particularly in two cup tournaments too. In the FA Vase Dron took New Milton Town to extra time in the second round before losing 6-3 after three quickfire goals from their opponents.

Then in the Cornwall Senior Cup after beating step five outfit Saltash United 1-0 in the semi-final they were guilty of missing big chances early on as they narrowly lost 1-0 to Falmouth Town at the final hurdle in a closely contested match at Poltair Park. But out of all the fixtures there were two games that stuck out as highlights for O'Neill: "The big ones for me were beating Bournemouth in the FA Vase. That was really big for us for two things. Firstly, because we had got through the first game but this was the first time we were playing a step five team in the competition.

"On the day I just had a feeling that we could do it, the moment the fourth goal came in which was a cross from Reece Carroll and Charlie Young put it in at the far post. That was the icing on the cake and the realisation that we could mix it with higher league sides and not just hold our own but come out on the right side of it.

"That was a big moment for us as that happened at the beginning of the season. That was an important moment, anyone can say you can mix it with the teams above but until you have gone out and proven it yourselves not everyone will believe it.

"The second big one, a turning moment was the Callington away game after beating Saltash in the Cornwall Senior Cup semi-final. They were 13 games unbeaten on a really exceptional run and they were a very good side. We had to go up there after getting through to the final, and there was a niggling doubt in my head we would go through the motions up there when actually we did the complete opposite.

"We didn't play particularly well, we rode our luck at times but the one thing we did do was dig in, stay solid and do the basics. We created three chances, one was disallowed, one was scored and then we didn't take the third.

"That proved to me, irrespective of what happens in highs and lows of seasons that we have an ability to be able to stay consistent and get our heads focused quickly. From there, we went on wins and clean sheets that stayed through until the end of the league season."

Wendron's home ground Underlane is renowned for it's playing surface and facilities. The Dron made the home ground a fortress in the 21/22 season losing just three times at their ground in the league. Despite this, O'Neill believes there is room for improvement on this figure but was also privileged to call Underlane his home, he said: "First and foremost, three times is too many. We play 18 games at home, we've lost 15/16% there which is too high. For all purposes we did have good home form, I am not trying to make it sound worse than it is we did have strong home form. It is quite cliche that you win your home games and you look to draw the away games, and if you do that for the whole season you will be there or thereabouts at the end.

Underlane is the home of Wendron United

"We set out at the beginning of the season that playing against us at Wendron should be very difficult, I think we did that on the whole. Two of the three games we lost were in the first month, that was Falmouth on the opening game then Penryn four weeks later. Then we didn't lose in the league until Callington in October. We have sorted it out, lets put it that way. I always feel comfortable playing at home. I have always felt historically we make it too easy for teams to come down and play well against us.

"People talk about how good the setup is and it is. It is a privilege to play there each week, but I want people to talk about us for football reasons rather than the fact we have got floodlights or the pitch is flat and there's grass on it! That just encourages the opposition to want to come down and play football.

"Teams that have a slightly different style of playing, one they are under the impression that they can get at is and two they think they have the surroundings to be able to do it. So it can work almost as a disadvantage playing at home sometimes. It was definitely on my agenda to make sure we had a fortress element to play at home. Bar those early results in the season I think we did achieve that."

Wendron have been quick to finalise and already release their pre season fixtures as preparations for the new campaign are firmly underway. Dron have five fixtures lined up for their warm up matches with ties against Porthleven, Ivybridge, Royal Navy U23's, Mousehole and a Plymouth Argyle development squad set to test their side before the new season kicks off.

"Preparations are going well, we finished the end of season about three weeks ago. I already had three of the five friendlies lined up." The Manager began. "I think it is important to get them announced and out the way early. It does two things; firstly, it gives that sense of confidence that the team is in good hands, is forward looking and are already looking at how to prepare for the next season.

"That puts people's minds at rest. It also generates a bit of interest and if you have any people who are sitting on the fence on whether they are joining or leaving then actually to see the clubs not resting almost forces a decision sooner rather than later. The more settled and consistent you can be that only leads to better results and better performances. Getting the stuff ready for next season it was imperative to have that wrapped up within a few weeks of the last season finishing."