Interview with Ciaren Jones

Club captain Ciaren Jones has agreed to continue to have regular interviews with me, so supporters will get to hear from inside the dressing room in 2025-26. He will give the player’s perspective on what is happening at Top Field.

In this first interview Ciaren looked back on the later stages of last season that saw us relegated. He felt the key period was from 8 February to 8 March when we played Banbury, Lowestoft, St Ives, Stratford and Bishops Stortford. After beating Banbury, Ciaren felt we could have won all of the next 4 games but only ended up with 2 points rather than 12. We dominated these games but failed to get the results we deserved. Ciaren said the players were dispirited and after the Stortford defeat the dressing room was silent and he admitted he felt very low.

Other problems saw Lewis Barker get injured and the Stokoe brothers having trials and missing games. Seb Stacey was recalled and Ciaren felt all these changes disrupted the team’s momentum and there was no consistency. Relegation was the result and Ciaren reflected that certain players were more focused on themselves rather than the team. There were too many changes of goalkeepers and strikers while being a very young side we desperately lacked experience. A revamp was needed for the new season.

A number of new players have joined and Ciaren is positive about the changes. He feels we are stronger than in the two previous seasons with much more experience in the squad. Supporters should be aware that it will take a number of games before the players fully get to know each other’s games and Ciaren asks supporters to be patient. It is a long season and the title will not be won in August.

Ciaren has noted a change in the mentality this season and there has been a reset in the thinking. The extra voices in the dressing room have helped Ciaren and he said that all training sessions had been positive. There has been more intensity and players have had  to stop feeling sorry for themselves. Training games have had more aggression and intent.

Looking at the season so far Ciaren felt the pre-season is a bit false. The games against full time sides are mainly helpful for fitness levels and the non league games were better indicators.

Ware in the Charity Cup was a difficult game and Hadley and Biggleswade were tough opponents for the first 2 league games as Hadley were in the play-off’s last season and Biggleswade came down with us. We got the win at Hadley and dominated Biggleswade Town creating more chances but they scored from one of their few shots. Ciaren expects teams to change their game against Hitchin  and Biggleswade sat very deep. We will be the big game for most teams in the league with our massive support and the players are well aware of this added factor.

Ciaren wants the supporters to remain positive and look at the positives from the Biggleswade game. We played well, defended well but just need to improve up front. The supporters are really appreciated by the players and have created a great atmosphere.

The players are determined to reward the supporters for their great support and Ciaren says anything other than promotion will be a failure.

Many thanks to Ciaren, and I will have regular interviews with him through the season.

Roy Izzard