Carney signs Ashford deal as Lockyer named club captain

Noah Carney has committed his future to Ashford by signing a two-year contract. And there’s more good news coming out of Homelands with Gary Lockyer named club captain after a successful spell leading the team on the pitch. Young forward Carney, 21, has impressed manager Lloyd Hume despite an injury-hit campaign.

He can be a big asset for the Nuts & Bolts as they look to mount an Isthmian South East promotion challenge. “Noah hasn’t had the best of seasons with injuries but that’s not his fault, they’re impact injuries,” said Hume, whose side end the season at Margate this Saturday (3pm). “He’s someone we really believe has a future at the club.



“He’s a young player who’s demonstrated, when fit, that he’s an outstanding individual and an outstanding player, so I’m delighted to get that one done.” Carney had a spell at wing-back earlier in the season but Hume wants the ex-Dover man in his best positions. “I see him as an attacking forward player that can play as a No.

10 or wide on the right up top,” said the manager. “I don’t want to see him playing full-back, that would be a last resort because we’ve got no one else.” Lockyer has scored seven goals in three games since agreeing a two-year deal to stay at Ashford.

His haul includes doubles in 3-1 and 5-3 wins over Littlehampton and Hythe on Good Friday and Easter Monday respectively, following a hat-trick against Steyning. The striker, who has 36 goals this season, was made team captain by Hume in March. And having proved himself with the armband, the club captaincy has followed.

“Since he’s been captain of the side, I’ve challenged him to perform both on and off the pitch, not only in his own performances but how he deals with situations and other people on the pitch and he’s been outstanding in that,” said Hume. “He fully deserves to be made club captain, which he was delighted about when I told him. “He’s always going to score goals but captaincy has brought out a different side to him.

“You can clearly see he’s not just thinking about himself and scoring goals, he’s thinking about the team and how we can do things better. “His discipline has been outstanding since he’s been made captain as well. “He’s got to continue that and I’m very confident he will.

“He’s earned the right to be called club captain.” Hume was delighted with the performance at Littlehampton as Ashford bounced back from their shock 6-3 home defeat against relegated Steyning. Lockyer put them 2-0 up at half-time and Louis Collins completed the 3-1 away win.

Defensive frailties returned as Ashford trailed Hythe 3-1 after 27 minutes but they were level by half-time and completed the turnaround after the break. Michael West scored their first, with Collins on target either side of Lockyer’s latest double. “As a coach, I really liked our performance at Littlehampton,” said Hume.

“We were on the front foot, we pressed them all over the pitch, we defended strongly as a team and it was a good away performance. “If you’re a fan you might look and say we didn’t play that well but, for me, on game management, we were much stronger on Friday than we were on Monday. “It was a very poor defensive display from us in the first half against Hythe but, having said that, we were very good offensively.

“We were the better side in my opinion but we defended really poorly three times and conceded three goals. “We didn’t make them work for one of their goals, which was disappointing. “You can probably imagine what I said at half-time about not conceding any more goals and, to be fair, we didn’t and we could have won the game a lot more comfortably than 5-3 shows.

“As a supporter, 5-3 in the last home game was entertaining, there were lots of goals, and most people seemed to enjoy it. “But, as a coach, I was hugely frustrated we never won 5-0. “You could say it’s an end-of-season game where these things happen but we’ve had so many of them right through the season and that’s what we’ve got to eradicate.

“If we want to be in the play-offs or, God forbid, win the thing, you have to be really professional about all of your performances and sometimes you need to win ugly.” Hume is looking for a strong finish to the season away to a Margate side who are safely in the play-offs. They won 4-1 at newly-crowned champions Ramsgate on Easter Monday.

“We won’t be treating it like an end-of-season game,” said Hume. “They’re a strong side but we’re going there wanting to win and these are the teams we should be competing against. “I’m not overly concerned about the players’ attitude at Margate.

“We know they’re one of the top teams and I think we always turn up for those games, it’s the ones when we’re playing teams down the bottom that have been a problem.”.