Dual control drives Sports forward

10:16am Thursday 22nd November 2007

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Dudley Sports management duo of Paul Blakeley and Neil Perks are showing Gerrard Houllier and Roy Evans the way in which to share the reins, as their side moved into the West Midlands Premier Division top five.

People have always frowned upon club's having joint managers but the Hillcrest Avenue pair seem to be a couple made in heaven.

A comfortable 4-0 victory over bottom of the table Bromyard Town on Saturday saw Sports climb up to fourth position.

Blakeley said : "Neil and I are delighted with how things are going at the moment but we will not be getting carried away.

"We have a good blend of youth and experience who are taking our plans on board.

"Me and Neil have known each other for over 20 years and we have built up a great relationship during that time.

"When Neil asked me to become joint manager, people questioned it because in the past its never proved to be very successful and we knew that ourselves.

"But we complement each other very well and the arrangement we have suits us both."

The duo are now preparing their team for a tough local derby against a struggling Gornal Athletic side who dumped them out of the JW Hunt Cup earlier this month.

Blakeley believes the Peacocks' lowly league position will mean nothing when the two teams lock horns at Hillcrest Avenue on Saturday (3pm).

He added: "League positions mean nothing in this division because there is never an easy game.

"We played Gornal a couple of weeks ago and they beat us 1-0 after extra-time so we will not be taking anything for granted.

"They are a well-organised side who are fit and up for the battle so we will have to be at our best."

Meanwhile Dudley Town will look to bounce back from a disappointting defeat against Darlaston Town when they travel to top of the table Bridgnorth Town on Saturday.

The Robins went down 4-2 at home to Darlaston although due to improvements to the floodlights at the Dell Stadium the game was switched to Darlaston's Waverley Road base.

Dean Whitehouse was without the suspended trio of Jordan Tipper, Chris Waterhouse and Harpreet Singh as well as Justin Nesbitt who left to join BGB Midlands Division One outfit Willenhall Town last week.

The manager said: "It was just a bad at the office on Saturday.

"It certainly doesn't help when you have to play a home game at the away team's ground.

"We will now all pull together and prepare for our trip to Bridgnorth.

"These are the kind of games as a manager or a player you want to be involved in and we are very much looking forward to it."

The boss confirmed he was hoping to add to his depleted squad having made seven-day approaches for two un-named targets.

Brierley Hill and Withymoor will also be looking to recover from a weekend defeat when they welcome Darlaston Town to the Grove on Saturday (3pm).

Last weekend the newly formed side were defeated 1-0 by Ellesmere Rangers.

Lye Town continued their rise up the table after defeating Wolverhampton Casuals 5-2 at Stourbridge Road.

Geoff Moss' men will hope to continue their current good run of form when they travel to struggling Lebury this Saturday.