Double helps Joyce forget his heel pain (From Bournemouth Echo)

Double helps Joyce forget his heel pain

7:05pm Sunday 7th February 2010 in

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SCOTT Joyce complained of sore heels on his arrival at Cuthbury and was promptly put on the bench by concerned Wimborne boss Alex Browne.

But the talismanic striker made a remarkable recovery, shrugging off the problem by hammering two goals after coming on as a second-half substitute as Magpies moved menacingly to within one point of table-topping Bemerton.

Steve Whitcher, Perry Mullins and Gareth Barnes were also on target for Wimborne, who are chasing their first Wessex League title since 2000.

But Browne is still playing down their hopes of pulling off what would only be, somewhat surprisingly, the club’s third championship success since the competition was inaugurated in 1986.

The manager said: “With Poppies and Bemerton’s games called off on Saturday and Poole dropping points at Cowes, it worked out well for us.

“We know they all have games in hand on us, but I’m not going to concern myself with them.

“We’ve just got to make sure we’re doing our own thing. We’ve just got to make sure we keep our standards high.

“At the moment, we’re doing that, but I’ll keep picking on my players if their standards drop and patting them on the back when they’re doing well.

“Then we’ll see where we finish.”

Enigmatic Joyce, whose in-form side have picked up 31 points out of a possible 36, increased his goal tally to 28 for the season with his cameo appearance brace.

Browne said: “It was funny because we got to the ground and Joycey started saying his heels were sore again.

“He had a couple of injections and they started to calm down.

“Then he said they were fine during the warm-up, so as we were quite comfortable at 3-0, he came on and took his two goals fantastically well.

“Hopefully, if we can get him back to full fitness and training full-time, he’ll add a lot more to that 28.”

Browne was also impressed with Mullins, who marked his first Wimborne start by scoring his maiden goal for them.

Browne, who snapped up the winger from Eastleigh, said: “He’s going to be a decent acquisition for us.”

Wimborne: Hutchings, Wilson, Lockyer, Haysom, Whitcher, Mullins, Green, Stokoe, Barnes (Joyce, 75), Clarke (Chudy, 65), James (Thomson, 71). Unused subs: Wyatt, Browne.