We asked Ricky Marheineke, the former manager of Huntingdon Town, who is currently the assistant manager at Histon, to name his Huntingdonshire team of the year. He was more than happy to do just that – so here it is...
I struggled with the midfield so for that reason I have gone with a 4-5-1 formation to give myself an extra man. I tried my best and I couldn’t put everyone in the team, and I didn’t envisage this being quite so difficult if I am honest.
GOALKEEPER Enol Ordonez (Soham Town Rangers on loan from Cambridge City)
Strictly not a Huntingdonshire player but Spanish goalkeeper Enol did play for Huntingdon, St Ives and Godmanchester last year. He was excellent for all three teams and I believe St Ives only lost once with him in goal and Godmanchester were unbeaten.
RIGHT BACK Daniel Moyes (Huntingdon Town)
Daniel is just a very, very good player. One-v-one he is outstanding and he sees himself as a winger so he gets forward and shows some great quality. His delivery and support play is outstanding too and he can also play at left back and centre back.
CENTRE BACK Tom Moran (Godmanchester Rovers)
Tom is a very committed player – he is excellent in the air and is a leader who doesn’t over-complicate things. Tom does what defenders need to do.
CENTRE BACK Gavin Hoyte (St Neots Town)
Gavin is just a man mountain and rarely gets beaten in the air. He was excellent when he played against us [Huntingdon] for St Neots in the Hunts Senior Cup final last year.
LEFT BACK Jonny Hall (Godmanchester Rovers)
Jon is a very similar player to Daniel Moyes inasmuch as he is unbelievable going forward but also a quality defender. He has quick feet and creates things.
HOLDING MIDFIELDER Jay Davies (St Neots Town)
Jay was probably the best player I saw last year. He likes to get on the ball and make things happen. He is fit and busy and disciplined and suits the holding role perfectly.
CENTRAL MIDFIELD Mike Hyem (Huntingdon Town)
Mike might be a young lad but he has bundles of experience. He had a fantastic season at Godmanchester and scored some important match winning goals in a great season for the club. He continued to do that when I took him to Huntingdon where he is the captain for my successor Seb Hayes.
CENTRE MIDFIELD Lewis Hilliard (St Neots Town)
I have seen Lewis a number of times and despite still being young he has impressed me every time. He can play in the centre or out wide on the left or the right and he can create chances from nothing. He has a little bit of magic.
RIGHT MIDFIELD Ben Seymour-Shove (Huntingdon Town)
Ben is very hard to mark. He has a great attitude and playing out wide or on the flank he creates opportunities for the team and himself. He has more than stood up to the physical challenge of UCL football and is blossoming into a fantastic player
LEFT MIDFIELD David Cobb (St Ives Town)
David is the best left sided midfielder I have seen or played against in Huntingdonshire. He has outstanding qualities; he is a very quick winger and is direct. He also scores some very important goals like the one at Shepshed Dynamo last season when he came off the bench injured and hit one from 30 yards to win St Ives their promotion to Step 4.
FORWARD Lee Bassett (Eynesbury Rovers)
Pure and simple. Lee is an outstanding centre forward who scores goals for fun. He is strong, direct and has quick feet. I wanted to sign him at Huntingdon and there were offers from other clubs too. He could certainly be playing at a much higher level. He scores 20 plus goals a season and that record speaks for itself.
Having to leave out Declan Rogers was the toughest thing for me. I was Declan’s manager at Huntingdon and he is a fantastic player – but I could only chose 11 players and fit them into a formation.
There were other players that just missed out like Arthur Lee at St Neots and Ricky Dear at Huntingdon – and had Jamie Blackwell been playing all year, he may have forced his way into the team. Jamie was excellent for Huntingdon in the last five games of last season and has been brilliant for Godmanchester since joining them.
I am also surprised that there is only one player from St Ives. I did go through everyone before committing to this team and only David Cobb made the cut.
Now I shall wait for the flack from those who missed out...
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