Tom Hamblin is hoping that he can be the missing link in Wealdstone’s pursuit of the Holy Grail that is Conference South football.
Late last month the former Gloucester City defender snubbed several offers from London-based non-league clubs to become one of the more recent additions to Gordon Bartlett’s latest evolution of the team from The Vale.
Hamblin has clearly been briefed on the play-off semi-final defeats of the last two seasons. And it seems the highly regarded centre back is keen to play a big part in making it third time lucky for the Stones.
He said: “I was aware they had just come up short in the fight for promotion the last couple of years, so one of the things I wanted to do was to help the push to finally get over the line and up into the Conference South.
“There are other lads in the dressing room who have played higher than I have, so with the experience we’ve gained and the young players we’ve got, hopefully we can get over the line and make a strong push at the next level.
“I’ve never played at this level so it was a new challenge for me to come up here and see what it is all about.
“Although there were a few options, this one stood out for me and I could tell straight away it was a good club to be around.”
It is still early days, but at first glance Hamblin feels the Stones’ class of 2013/14 are well equipped to make the leap, displaying a style of football Hamblin is familiar with from his several seasons at Conference level with Gloucester City.
He said: “It’s a bit soon for me to judge, but the level of football looks to be about the same, from what I have seen.
“We seem to try to play a lot of football here, which is great, and I have been impressed with the standard of the lads.”
Having missed some playing time while in transit between the Cotswolds and London, Hamblin is more than ready to pick up the baton.
“Wes [Parker’s] injury has opened up a nice doorway into the team for me, perhaps earlier than expected, to be fair. It’s bad luck for Wes, but I can slot straight in and it is good to get back playing again.”
Wealdstone followed wins over Maidstone and Enfield Town during the Christmas period with only their second league defeat of the season on Saturday, losing 3-1 to Hampton and Richmond Borough.
