Season-high attendance shows Ossett's potential, says Welsh

Ossett celebrated Non-League Day in style with the 6-0 drubbing of Colwyn Bay in the FA Trophy.

And Welsh believes that United’s supporter base will continue to get stronger, ahead of their Evo-Stik East Division clash with Lincoln United.

“I think we have started the season off really well, if I am honest,” said Welsh.

“I am always going to demand more out of myself, more out of the players and more out of the fans, even though we are getting loads of fans.

“It is great, but, like we said when we first took on this project, it is a sleeping giant.

“If it continues the way it is, it is not just going to be an exciting season for the football club but an exciting one for the region of Ossett.”

On Saturday afternoon Adam Priestley led the way with a hat-trick, with other goals coming from Aidan Chippendale, Marcus Day and Karl Jones as United cruised into the next round of the FA Trophy.

Priestley opened the scoring on the 10-minute mark but United’s second wouldn’t come until midway through the second half. Ossett took full advantage of two Colwyn red cards after Luke Horrocks and Danny Andrews were both sent off inside a five-minute spell.

Five goals in the space of 23 minutes saw Ossett run out comfortable winners. Chippendale struck on 67 minutes before Day added another goal just one minute later.

Four minutes later Priestley grabbed his second and completed his hat-trick late on after Jones had made it 5-0 with just over 10 minutes to play.

Welsh felt that his players “thrived” in front of the larger crowd at Ingfield and added that he, along with his players, could sense “the buzz” from the sidelines. He said: “It was a dominating performance.

“We had a good chance early on and the place erupted, you could hear the crowd go ‘ohhh.’

“I turned to Quinny [assistant manager, Paul Quinn] and I went, ‘there is a lot here today mate.’ Because you could really sense the buzz and sense that there were a lot of people at the ground.

“It was excellent to have that sort of crowd and the players thrived on it, and I am sure in weeks to come it is going to get bigger.”

Tomorrow afternoon, Ossett host Lincoln United with their sights firmly set on second place.

United are level on points with Lincoln, who are behind them on goal difference, but Ossett have played a game less.

Welsh’s side are just one point adrift of Brighouse Town and Marske United who occupy third and second respectively.

Welsh added: “Every team in this division is going to compete. We have just got to go about our game and about our gameplan like we normally do.

“For me, if we have a consistent level of performance, on our day we are a very, very strong team. You hear it in football, there are no easy games in any league for me and this won’t be an easy game.

“We have got to treat Lincoln with the respect they deserve, it is very tight at the top.”