BRACKNELL Town joint-manager Jeff Lamb has welcomed the two-week break ahead of his side’s biggest game so far this season, writes Dave Wright.

The Robins, who trounced Cheltenham Saracens 9-2 in the Bluefin Sport Hellenic League Cup last Saturday, are without a game this coming weekend.

And that gives them valuable time for players to recover from knocks before the FA Vase third-round tie away to Kent club Lordswood on December 2.

“Having no game this week will hopefully give us more time to get a few injuries out of the way,” said Lamb.

George Short and Justin Clayton are among those nursing knocks, while Seb Bowerman was taken off at half-time after being on the receiving end of a couple of strong challenges by Cheltenham players.

Bowerman had continually tormented the Saracens defence and scored twice as Town cruised into a 4-0 lead before half-time.

“He’s been playing well, scoring goals and we didn’t want to take any risks with him,” Lamb commented.

With the team being reshuffled, Bowerman’s place was taken by Colin Mugoya.

He and full-back Jack Smillie, who made his debut from the start, are the latest pair to have joined the club after playing for Lamb at Ascot United.

“They are good additions to the squad,” commented Lamb, who didn’t rule out making even more signings.

“I have known them both for some years. Colin. is a bundle of energy, can play in defence or midfield. Jack signed for Ascot at the beginning of the season and we had to sort out his transfer to get him across.”

Lamb was obviously pleased to see his side maintain their high-scoring form last Saturday, with their nine strikes making it 33 goals in their last five games.

But he was disappointed to see his side concede two goals in quick succession to their Division 1 West rivals early in the second half after Town had switched to a three-man back line.

“They were sloppy ones to concede. We gave the ball away and didn’t recover quickly enough, so that area was pretty poor,” Lamb admitted.

“But we are scoring plenty of goals and that keeps everyone positive which is a good thing for the squad and for the club as a whole.”

The 9-2 demolition job on an outclassed Cheltenham side followed Town’s 2-1 win at National League South side Hungerford in the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup on Tuesday of last week.

“We were over the moon with that result,” Lamb told the News. “They (Hungerford) were a few players missing, but we went out with a different formation (4-5-1) that had served us at Ascot quite well.

“Everyone stuck to their task, all the players were on the same wavelength, all worked hard for each other, getting each other involved, and it was one of those performances where you came away all feeling chuffed.

“We took a lot of heart from that performance. It was a win we fully deserved and we are looking forward to the outcome of the Slough and Wantage game.”

That pair are due to play their second-round tie on December 19 with the winners travelling to Larges Lane in the quarter-finals.