DUO WORTHY-OF TAKING A PUNT!

PAT SURACI admits it was a gamble for both sides when he and fellow young boss Joe Lea took the Gosport Borough job – but now they’re in a promotion race and want to stay there.

- Matt Badcock

Suraci, 25, and Lea, 26, are two of the youngest managers around but are already making a big impact.

Last season they jointly took Petersfield to promotion from Step 6 in their first year as senior managers.

That led to a summer return to Southern Premier South Gosport, where they both played before taking the coaching route as well pivotal roles in the academy set-up.

They’re already close to matching last season’s win total and, ahead of the weekend, were third in the table with a game in hand on Salisbury and Chesham United.

And Suraci hopes the duo are repaying the faith shown in them by chairman Iain McInnes.

“I don’t think risk is the wrong word – I’d say it was a risk for everyone,” Suraci told The NLP. “It was a risk for the chairman. Maybe the last couple of appointments hadn’t gone right for him and the club weren’t where we expected them to be. He was putting in two young managers – I am pretty sure two of the youngest managers in any league in England – so that’s obviously a big risk for him.

Fuel

“For us, it was a risk because we were coming into a big job three leagues above what we were doing last year.

“Had it not gone as well as it has so far, it might not have looked too good for us. So it was a risk for all parties.

“At the same time, me and Joe are confident in what we do in terms of coaching and management. We back ourselves to go in and make an impact.