MARK Tallentire and Aaron Steadman have been put in charge of Bracknell Town's first team following the sacking of manager Sam Lock last week, writes Dave Wright.

And the managerial appointments come at a time when Stephen Peters, the club's head of the academy, has taken charge of all football-related matters at Larges Lane.

Tallentire, Bracknell's director of football and former manager, and Steadman were in the dug-out together when the Robins won 3-1 at Westfield last week to qualify for the knock-out stages of the Isthmian League's Velocity Trophy.

Since then, they have taken training as they prepare for the South Central Division game at Staines this coming Saturday.

Their appointments were confirmed after what Peters described as a "number of hugely positive meetings".

He said: "It’s always a difficult decision to make a change at the forefront of our first team. However, we’ve made that decision and look towards our future.

"With Tally and Steads now taking the lead, we have a wonderful mix of experience and innovative management ideas. Both will get our full support in this transitional period."

He added: After a frustrating start to the season, the vibe around the club is now one of excitement and optimism. We are looking forward to a really important fixture at Staines."

Lock, in charge for just five months, was sacked following successive defeats at Haywards Heath and Chertsey.

Tallentire and Steadman, who was appointed at the same time as Lock, made changes to the team for the game against Westfield at Woking Park and saw their side return to winning form.

"For me, it was just about breaking that sequence of losing two games on the trot, you don't really want to make it three, so it was pleasing to win," said Tallentire.

"Result-wise, it was probably more important to us than it was for Westfield.

"It was an excellent performance, especially in the first half. We deserved to win."

Nathan Minhas opened the scoring before Seb Bowerman bagged a brace, all three goals coming inside the opening 30 minutes.

Westfield pulled one back in the second half, but the Robins, skippered by Carl Davies, always looked in control as they made it four wins out of four in the Velocity Trophy to seal top spot in Group Five.

The 10 group winners will join all the Premier Division clubs in the last 32 with the rest of the competition being played in a knock-out format.

* Match report inside.