Gilbert grabs Player of the Month award
We are delighted to introduce you to the Enterprise National League South award winners for October. The division continues to produce the unexpected, but there was little doubt in our panel’s mind when it came to who should claim the accolades after a fantastic four weeks.
Horsham manager Dominic Di Paola said in the summer his team should embrace the challenge after creating history by winning promotion – meaning the Hornets are playing at the highest level of football their fans have ever seen.
Forget simply not looking out of their depth, those supporters are dreaming big after arriving in November in a play-off place. Di Paola’s side shone, and he swatted away competition from Lee Allinson (Hemel Hempstead Town) Adam Hinshelwood (Worthing) and George Elokobi (Maidstone United) to secure the richly deserved award.
They started the month holding leaders and still-unbeaten Hornchurch and closed it out with three wins on the spin to show they are more than capable of coping with the step up. Horsham did it despite playing four of their five games in the month away from home, sealing wins at Tonbridge Angels and pre-season title favourites Dagenham & Redbridge before beating Enfield Town in front of the famous Lardy Boys.
Maidstone’s Elokobi didn’t quite win, but his side clearly had a great month – and his main man John Gilbert was leading the charge. Goalscoring midfielders are always a sought-after breed, and the Stones have a gem in Gilbert, who was a master in the middle of the pitch. His red-hot form in October helped their cause no end with four goals – including two against former club Slough Town – and an assist.
Kyle Ajayi (Hemel Hempstead Town), Charlie Hester-Cook (Horsham) and Tyler Cordner (AFC Totton) were nominated and just missed out but Maidstone fans will believe our panel got it right. With wins at Dagenham & Redbridge, Farnborough and Slough, plus three points at home to Eastbourne Borough, things are really looking up after a challenging start. Well done to our two big winners!