BLACKFIELD & Langley have broken the mould by spreading their nets outside the Waterside area for players next season.

Tony Feeney, who joint manages the Wessex League club with Andy Price, reckons it's not just Blackfield who will reap the benefits.

For too long now, Waterside players have been flitting back and forth between Blackfield and their two close neighbours, Fawley and Hythe & Dibden, with the result that all three clubs have had their strength diluted and struggled in their respective leagues.

Feeney has seen the problems at first hand having done the rounds of the local clubs and concluded: "Although there are a lot of good young players on the Waterside, most of them are not ready for the Wessex League and I think it will

benefit both Hythe and Esso (Fawley) if they go back to their roots. They can play at the level they're comfortable at and when they've conquered the Hampshire League and made a name for themselves, then is the time to move up.

"When I was at Hythe, players would go off to Blackfield, fail to make the grade and then come back. You knew they weren't good enough for Wessex football, but you had to let them go and find out for themselves. The talent is there, but the players are young and inexperienced."

Blackfield have made a couple of losses from the side that finished second to bottom of the Wessex pile last season. Experienced midfielder/defender Wayne Oakley is now co-manager of Hythe & Didben, while Mark Clothier has linked up again with his former manager John Robson at AFC Totton.

Oakley's brother, Nathan, has also joined Hythe, but Feeney and Price are hopeful the striker will sign Wessex forms again at Gang Warily.

The busy managers, who joined the club towards the end of last season, have made short work revamping the squad with nine new names.

Defender Mike Collins, right-back Lee Harrison and left-sided midfielder Danny Homer have all played for Totton, midfielder Adie Sheath is ex-BAT and defender/midfielder Aaron Vine includes Hamble ASSC among his former clubs.

Price, an ex-Vospers man, has brought in midfielder/frontrunner Jason Hurst from his old club and Blackfield have also swooped for ex-Pompey and Salisbury forward Ashkan Karimzadeh.

Ex-Eastleigh centre-half Steve Hall should bolster the back as should Kirt Emmet, providing he lands a job locally after completing a university degree at Birmingham.

The managerial team has been boosted by the appointment of experienced former Fareham Town coach/boss Bill Moore as first-team coach.