Law staying calm as Poppies' top scorer Weir-Daley departs

It was announced last night that the Poppies’ top scorer, who has scored 15 goals in all competitions this season, had joined Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Premier Division side Hednesford Town after they had made a seven-day approach.

Weir-Daley joined Kettering, initially on loan from Corby Town, last season and played a key role as they made a late but ultimately fruitless push towards the Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division play-off places.

He stayed on for this season and hit four goals in games against St Ives Town and Market Drayton Town, in the FA Trophy, as well as a hat-trick against St Neots Town.

Weir-Daley was dropped for last weekend’s home clash with Cinderford Town and replaced by Aaron O’Connor who scored in a 2-0 success.

And Law said: “It’s always disappointing to lose any player.

“At the end of the day, we are at a level of football where players are rarely under contract and you find that there is a lot of movement of players between the three leagues across the tier we are currently at.

“I think Spencer has possibly been a bit disappointed by the irregular amount of games but I feel I have been justified in the selections I have made.

“Spencer hadn’t scored in a month and I picked Aaron O’Connor last weekend (against Cinderford Town) and he scored and he would now be feeling that would start the next game as well.

“You look at Spencer, Aaron, Rene Howe and Matthew Barnes-Homer and they are four strikers who would feel they could start every week at this level.

“I tried to have the competition for places so that when we lost one, someone else would be ready to come in. But when you do that, you walk the fine line of whether they are happy when they aren’t in the team.

“I am sure people will be jumping up and down because we have lost our top goalscorer but at the same time, the bulk of his goals came in three or four matches.

“Hednesford are a big club at this level and they have a new manager who is keen to bring new faces in and they have got themselves a good striker.

“We are disappointed to lose a player but we have to move on.”

When it comes to any possible replacements following Weir-Daley’s exit, Law believes a solution my lie within as he hinted he may bring young forward Jordan Wilson back into things “sooner rather than later”.

Wilson is currently on loan at Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Division One South side Carlton Town.

Law added: “We have got Jordan out on loan at the moment. We feel we have identified his ability and we have got him out there in the northern league to give him a taste of it.

“The reports and the feedback we have had has been positive and we might look at bringing him back into it sooner rather than later.

“And we always have Alan Doyle out there looking for the next addition and with Spencer leaving, I am sure he will come to me with four or five options for us to look at.”