A strong squad has been key to Sheppey United’s sustained pursuit of silverware and one man has epitomised that team ethic.

Richie Hamill scored twice and assisted with another in Ites’ 5-0 win over Tower Hamlets last weekend and assistant boss Marcel Nimani led the praise for the man he has dubbed the ‘Sheppey Pirlo’ - in homage to the Italian great Andrea Pirlo.

Nimani said: “He is just an example to anyone, of how a player should conduct themselves, in and out of the squad and every time he plays, whether it is 15 or 90 minutes, his performances are always consistent.

“In my opinion he is one of the most underrated players in Southern Counties East League.

“He is a typical winter footballer. When the pitches are awful his standards never drop. When you have to rest someone and bring in Richie Hamill you never make yourself weaker.

“It is a real credit to the calibre of players that we have in our squad, we have an even squad where we have players of similar ability. We never see it that we get weaker or stronger, resting one and bringing in another. It has been a blessing having a good squad that we have rotated.”

Warren Mfula scored a first-half hat-trick in the 5-0 drubbing of Tower Hamlets.

Sheppey maintained their promotion charge with a 1-0 win at Deal Town on Tuesday night with another goal from Mfula, netted in the first minute. Hamill turned in another impressive performance as The Ites clinched an important three points against The Hoops.

“It has been a great return from Warren,” said Nimani. “He is a finisher, a predator in the box and he takes his chances. He makes some very good runs, gets into good positions to score and in a team like ours, where we create loads of opportunities, players with Warren’s attributes will always score goals.

“If you are a striker of that nature, where you enjoy tap-ins and you are clever and can make those runs and work hard, Sheppey in the SCEFL is the perfect club to be at.”

Sheppey are due back in action on Saturday at home to Tunbridge Wells.

There was some sad news from Holm Park this week as the club mourned the death of loyal fan Bob Lawrence, a season-ticket holder but also a volunteer at games. There will be applause before kick-off on Saturday to remember him.

“The very success of the club is based on the volunteers around it like Bob Lawrence,” reflected Nimani.

“We were extremely sad and devastated by the loss. He was a great presence around the club, a fantastic supporter and anyone who was affected by it, we send our sincere condolences.

“He had a good relationship with the players, they would message each other while he was ill. He was a real nice guy and will be a big miss.”