Rovers boss demands improvement on last season ahead of Saturday’s UCL Division One opener at Rushden & Higham

EYNESBURY ROVERS kick-off their 2011/12 United Counties League Division One campaign at Rushden & Higham on Saturday.

Rovers, who have finished third and sixth in two seasons under manager Matt Plumb, have been boosted in the close season by the appointment of ex-St Neots reserve team boss Paul Dodson as joint-manager.

Ahead of the weekend trip to Rushden - who finished 10th in Division One last season - Plumb said: “The target, once again, will be to try and finish in the top two and get promoted out of this league.

“We let ourselves down last year in my opinion.

“I felt we weren’t at the races for most of the season and overall, it was a disappointment.

“At the end of last season I told the players to go away for the summer and, if they wanted to be here and have a fresh start this season, that was down to them.

“And we’ll start the season with more or less the same squad of players that finished the last one.”

Eynesbury were scheduled to host Evo-Stik Southern League Division One Central club Biggleswade Town in their final pre-season fixture last night (Tuesday).

On Saturday, Rovers recovered from 2-0 and then 3-1 down to secure a 3-3 draw with last season’s UCL Division One champions AFC Kempston Rovers at Hall Road.

The vistors were already two up by the time Tom Coles pulled one back on 21 minutes, although Kempston restored their two-goal advantage ten minutes after the break.

However Jez McMurrough’s 63rd minute effort along with a Lee Bassett penalty five minutes from time earned them a draw.