RICKY Marheineke has appointed Teddy Dear as his assistant after admitting he made a mistake in Huntingdon Town’s 2-1 home defeat to the new United Counties League leaders Quorn.

Huntingdon were 1-0 up on a waterlogged pitch at Jubilee Park on Saturday after Declan Rogers scored with a magnificent free kick on the stroke of half time. But the manager made changes he came to regret in the second half and blamed himself for the loss after Quorn struck twice to take all three points and go above St Ives Town at the top of the Premier Division table.

“People have patted me on the back and called me a genius this season – but I have to hold my hands up and admit it when I get things wrong. Sometimes the decisions I make just don’t come off.”

So Marheineke has appointed Dear, the 36-year-old brother of his captain Ricky Dear, to bounce ideas off on the touchline.

Although Huntingdon coach Paul Swannell has been at Marheineke’s side over the past two seasons, the manager sees his new assistant as someone he can sound out when the chips are down. “I’m still a young manager and I need someone on the sidelines,” he told The Hunts Post. “Sometimes I can get into a little bit of a panic and that’s what happened on Saturday.

“I need someone there who is going to question my decisions – and that’s what he will be there for.”

Dear played for Huntingdon under former manager Andy Rossi, but he wasn’t Marheineke’s first choice for the role. Someone else was approached first, but that person remains in a job because he didn’t want to leave his club mid-season.

However, Marheineke says the door is still open and if there needs to be four of them on the sidelines at Jubilee Park next season, then so be it.

Back to Saturday, Marheineke continued: “I was disappointed with the result against Quorn because we could have beaten them – but the pitch was difficult for both teams and the game probably should have been called off.

“But the last thing we wanted to do after they had made the journey all that way was to call the game off at half one when they arrived.”

Latvian striker Niks Savalneiks missed a couple of chances in the first half before Rogers’ struck with his stunning free-kick. And it looked like the home side might hold on to all three points with Ben Seymour-Shove skimming the crossbar and Savalneiks again going close.

But Marheineke was worried about the pace of Quorn’s wingers and changed his formation to defend against that threat. It was that decision he later regretted. “The changes I made took away from what the team had been doing well,” he said.

Huntingdon: Dave Beeny, Ryan Spencer, Victor Torres, Jake Waterworth, Ollie Medwynter, Ben Seymour-Shove (Ben Sawyer), Ricky Dear, Declan Rogers, Jamie Graham, Dan Drane (Jack Warwick), Niks Savalneiks (Stuart Eason).