BETTER late than never is the best way to describe Mark Molesley’s first crack at the Football League.

While the majority of modern players tend to spend their youth in academies before earning professional contracts, Molesley’s long and winding road to Dean Court has taken a much more scenic route.

The 27-year-old, signed recently on loan from Grays Athletic, had spent his entire career in the non-league, before being handed his league opportunity by Cherries boss Jimmy Quinn.

Despite being involved with the Brentford school of excellence as a youngster, it was with Hayes where the midfielder served his footballing education.

Prior to sealing a deal with Cherries, the former England |C international was an unknown on the south coast, |but Quinn was well aware of his talents, and appeared alongside a young Molesley at Hayes in 2001.

Molesley almost made a full debut on Tuesday night at Luton, only for the game to be abandoned.

But explaining what qualities the midfielder can bring to his team, Quinn also hinted that he would hand him another opportunity to impress from the start against Chesterfield at Dean Court tomorrow.

“Mark’s more of an offensive player and I just feel, with our system, we haven’t been getting enough players forward into the box,” he said.

“Marvin (Bartley) is a very good player and works very hard for the team and tracks back very well.

“But I just looked at it and thought Mark would probably give us a bit more going forward.

“Marvin makes great runs without the ball but Mark is very good on the ball and he has been known in the past to weigh in with a few goals from the middle of the park.”

Explaining his background in the game, Molesley recalled: “I came through the ranks at Hayes and actually played with Jimmy Quinn.

“He came down at the end of his career to play for Hayes when I was a youngster.

“There was talk of me going to the league as a youngster but it didn’t quite materialise. Better late than never!”

Molesley made his first Cherries appearance as a substitute in the heavy defeat at Shrewsbury, just hours after completing his whirlwind transfer, which came out of the blue.

“It was a surprise but I’m loving it,” the Rickmansworth-based player revealed.

“It’s a great club with great facilities. It happened so quickly and the games have come thick and fast, so I’m still finding my feet a little bit.

“It happened so quickly on the Friday and I hadn’t played for two weeks before I came to Bournemouth. So I’m just trying to build up my fitness and wait for my chance.

“It’s been very enjoyable. The training sessions are sharp and high tempo.

“They are good sessions and it’s a good standard.”

Molesley, who was born near Hayes, admits there is a gap between the Conference and League Two, although he believes it is narrowing.

He said: “There’s a high standard at Bournemouth, which the gaffer demands.

“The Conference is catching up, it’s full-time now and it hasn’t got the excuse to be that far behind.

“But obviously here you know that if you’re not on your game you will get punished. Any lapse in concentration or mistake proves even more costly.”

As a determined character, Molesley is keen to make the step up and earn a permanent contract with Cherries in 2009.

Having previously been a jack of all trades, working as a postman, college teacher and kitchen fitter, the likeable Londoner is eager to master his favourite one.