AFC Telford goalkeeper Jonathan Hedge relishing battle to be No. 1
Goalkeeper Jonathan Hedge is relishing his battle to become AFC Telford's number one after helping the Bucks to their first clean sheet of the season.
The former Grimsby Town shot-stopper, who joined Telford in the summer, was brought in to replace previous first choice Ryan Young.
But the arrival of fellow goalkeeper Freddy Hall at the start of last month means manager Liam Watson now has competition between the sticks.
Competition
Since his arrival, Hedge has played just one of three league games – the 2-0 defeat at Lincoln City – but, with Hall cup tied, he played in the FA Cup matches against Spennymoor and is expected to start today's first-round proper clash at Basingstoke.
The 3-0 replay win over Spennymoor saw the Bucks keep the first clean sheet of the season, at the 19th attempt. But Hall, who also played against Woking, returned for last Saturday's 1-0 home league defeat against Bristol Rovers.
Hedge said: "It is a good battle to have. You need that competition for places. Freddy has come in, played a couple of games and done well. I played in the FA Cup against Spennymoor, thought I did well last Tuesday night in the replay and kept a clean sheet, which I was delighted about as it was our first one of the season.
"It's healthy, every team needs competition and whoever is playing whether it is me or Freddy the main thing is Telford United doing well, keeping clean sheets, getting points on the board and winning games."
Hedge feels his battle with Hall will make them better goalkeepers.
He said:"We push each other all the way."
"If one of us doesn't play the other one has got our support so it is good competition to have and we have just got to relish it.
"Freddy wants to play games, I want to carry on playing so it is just a case of us both working hard in training and the beneficiary will be the team so that is good."
"The only way you get the best out of people is by having a little bit of competition because they take you to the next level. If you haven't got anyone pushing you then people can become a little bit stale."
* Telford's Supporters Trust will hold their annual general meeting on Saturday, 29th November (5.30pm) in the Learning Centre at the New Buck's Head Stadium following the clash with Grimsby.
