Former Dover Athletic manager Mitch Brundle to spend the rest of the season with Lydd Town in Southern Counties East
Published: 05:00, 17 January 2024
Former Dover manager Mitch Brundle looks set to spend the rest of the season with Lydd after making a playing comeback.
Brundle, sacked by Whites in December, contacted Lydders joint-boss James Rogers asking for a game.
He made his debut in a 3-1 Southern Counties East win at Stansfeld on Saturday.
Brundle, whose former clubs include Gateshead, Dagenham and Barnet, is only 29 and could easily play higher if fit.
He’s due to see out the season with Lydd, after which Rogers expects him to move back up.
“You can see he’s a Conference player when he gets himself fit and I’m sure that’s where he’ll be heading next season,” said Rogers. “We’ll enjoy him while we’ve got him.
“We’ve known each other through football for a few years and we’ve stayed in touch and had a bit of banter.
“His mentality’s a bit like mine - he’s a bit of a livewire.
“He messaged me and I jumped at the chance to get him in.
“It’s probably one of Lydd’s best-ever signings.
“He’s not kicked a ball for a long time but he came in and made a difference straight away.
“He’ll be a massive asset for us.
“We’ve come to an agreement for the rest of the season.
“If a Conference club come in we aren’t going to stand in his way but unless something major happens, he’ll be with us.”
Dean Grant scored twice, with Luke Burdon also on target in Lydd’s victory at Stansfeld.
It was a fourth win in five matches for Town, who have added the experience of Dave Smith to their management team.
“It was a good win on Saturday,” said Rogers, as Lydd bounced back from a 2-0 midweek defeat at Bearsted.
“They’ve had a couple of good results, beating Whitstable, but we’ve gone there and been professional.
“We were strong all over, organised and we looked like we had goals in us. We’ve had a lot of good results lately.
“If you’d offered us four wins out of five, we’d have taken that.”
Lydd are due to host fellow form side Deal tonight (7.45pm) although freezing temperatures put the game in doubt.
The Hoops are fighting for the title but hold no fear for a Lydd team who beat them in the FA Cup this season.
“They’re on a great run but so are we,” said Rogers.
“We’ve improved a hell of a lot over the past five games.
“They’ve got experience and they’ve been together a long time but our team’s full of players who’ve played at higher levels, so we should be holding our own against the likes of Deal and Faversham and all the top sides.”
Lydd visit Holmesdale on Saturday (3pm).
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Craig Tucker