MALVERN Town boss Les Jones praised his players for the reaction they showed to win their first two league games following their disappointing FA Cup exit earlier this month.
After being thumped 7-0 in the extra preliminary round by Wolverhampton Casuals, the Hillsiders quickly put the defeat behind them as they won their West Midlands Premier Division opener at Bilston Town Community 4-3 last Wednesday.
Kyonn Evans (2) netted a late winner for the visitors after Matthew Turner had scored a brace to bring Malvern level after being 2-0 down.
Jones’ side then ran out comfortable 5-2 winners at Shropshire side Wellington Amateurs on Saturday, thanks to goals from Turner (2), Sean Smith, Josh Weatherby and Harry Wickett.
“I was really pleased with the response the lads showed after our hammering in the FA Cup,” said the Malvern gaffer.
“To have come from behind to beat Bilston was a really pleasing feature and to see all our strikers scoring was just fantastic.
“To follow that up with a win at Wellington was equally as impressive.
“To come away with six points from two long away trips is important.
“It is a cliche but it is always important to get off to a good start but what we cannot afford to do now is let that form slip.”
Malvern play their first home game of the season tomorrow (Tuesday) when they welcome newly-promoted Wednesfield to the HDAnywhere Community Stadium.
Having watched the Black Country side, Jones is aware of the threat they will pose.
“They have a very lively attack,” he said.
“There are no easy games in this league and we have to stop giving goals away.
“That is something I want to address because we need to be tighter at the back.
“If we could come away with three wins out of three then it is a great start.”
After the clash against Wednesfield, Malvern’s attentions turn to Saturday when they make the trip to bogey side Dudley Sports.
Sports took four points off the Hillsiders last term and Jones is hoping to set the record straight.
“We usually play them away in midweek so it makes a change to play them on Saturday,” he added.
“Dudley are one of our bogey sides and it would be nice to beat them but our priority right now is Wednesfield.
“We want to continue our good form and keep scoring plenty of goals.”