UNBEATEN Newent Town owe their resurgence to a trip to Butlins, according to secretary Phil Clarke.

After years in the doldrums, so many players turned up for pre-season training that they had to form a third team. They are regularly getting more than 60 players at training nights and the firsts are top of the North Gloucestershire League.

Town's revival began with the relaunch of their under-18s team, but things went awry when manager Paul Wilband was head-hunted to take charge of Pegasus, one of the leading clubs in Hereford. He took seven players with him.

Phil explained: "Paul came back to us towards the end of last season and so did the players.

"We went on tour to Butlins and it brought everyone together. When we got back we started work on the pitch and the facilities – and all the work was done by the players.

"The pitch looks superb right now."

Phil says it's hardly surprising that the first team has become a force on the field, with seven ex-Pegasus players in their line-up.

He said: "I think we are capable of playing at a much higher level and hopefully this will be our year.

"The spine of the team is built around our goalkeeper Matt Bickers, who has kept seven clean sheets and played youth football for Bristol City and Cheltenham, our captain and sweeper Haydn Rust, our most improved player Paul Mason, who links the defence and midfield, and striker Patrick Gibbs.

"A lot of the boys were playing for the under-18s last season and Ben Stringer, at 26, is our oldest player."