Bury Town manager Cole Skuse backs likes of Tommy Hughes and George Quantrell to move up the football ladder after impressive showings in AFC Sudbury derby
Bury Town manager Cole Skuse has backed the likes of Tommy Hughes and George Quantrell to move up the footballing ladder.
The midfield duo, who joined the Blues during the summer, have been influential figures during the opening few weeks of the new campaign as the club continues to adjust to life back in the Southern League Central Premier Division following the previous season’s promotion.
And the pair had particularly significant impacts on yesterday’s 1-0 derby victory over AFC Sudbury. Hughes, who has had a taste of the professional game with Ipswich Town, spent the whole contest playing on the half turn, threading through passes that not many other players on the pitch would have seen, let alone attempted to execute.
Quantrell, meanwhile, was the match winner, capping an impressive performance in which he continually drove forward with the ball by picking out the bottom corner of Marcus Garnham’s net in the 78th minute.
And while Skuse’s job is to ultimately guide Bury to positive results, he sees ‘no reason’ why players of that ilk cannot make the jump up.
“The game has been decided by a bit of magic from an individual who has been unbelievable for us since coming in,” he said.
“He’s a special talent, as are the other boys we’ve brought into the group and the boys that were already here.
“My talk to the group after was that I’m not a selfish human. As much as I’m manager of Bury Town, I don’t want these boys at the football club for long – meant in the nicest possible way.
“People like Tommy Hughes, like George Quantrell – they’re outstanding. On and off the pitch their application is first class and they produce those sprinkles of brilliance in games.
“I’d love to see them boys playing at a higher level for a bigger club. Again, that almost sounds backwards that I’m saying it out loud, but I’d love for them boys to go on.
“The disparity between this and the Football League is the minutest of details – it’s not big gaps. There’s no reason why them boys, any of our boys or any of the boys in a Sudbury shirt cannot go and play League football.”
Another player that caught the eye for Bury was Ally Conway.
The summer addition from Newmarket Town arrived with the reputation of being an attack-minded midfielder, but against Sudbury he flourished in a wing-back role.
Conway’s movement made him a difficult player to mark, he rarely wasted possession and on another day he may have notched a goal or two.
“He’s been unbelievable. As a character, he’s relatively quiet but he’s very witty and I love his humour,” added Skuse.
“He was one we highlighted last year that played against us. He had that little bit of needle, that little bit of grit, but in possession he was really polished.
“He’s a luxury in the sense that he can play as a number 10, he can play in the middle of midfield, but barring the backline, he can play anywhere on the pitch.
“It’s great to have in your group and I know it can water him a little bit if you’re just chucking him around in lots of positions, but he was always highlighted him as a potential wing-back for us. We’ve had Mikey (Davis), we’ve had Max (Maughn), but outside of that we’ve not had many natural wing-backs.
“It’s a bespoke position, but when you see him put in the performance that he’s put in during this game and he was also the stand-out player in pre-season, he’s already so important. He’s a great signing and a top lad – I’m delighted with how he’s settled in.”
As for the game itself, Skuse credited Sudbury for making life difficult for his side, with Blues goalkeeper Charlie Beckwith called into action on a number of occasions.
Skuse said: “Us being off our game slightly wasn’t just because of us, I think they deserve a huge amount of credit for the way they were well drilled and well disciplined.
“I was really impressed with them out of possession and they also had some real threats at the top end of the pitch.”