Jewson/Hellenic Boss Baggaley confident Hallen can do well back in the Hellenic

HALLEN boss Karl Baggaley says he has been heartened by what he’s seen so far from his team now they're a step 5 competitor in the Hellenic League once more.

- Simon PARKINSON

Charged with lifting the famous Bristol club out of difficulties from the moment Stuart Jones vacated the hot-seat soon into the 2023-24 campaign, Baggaley and Hallen had been steadily rebuilding back in more familiar Western League climes to the extent they triumphantly reentered the Hellenic League's top flight in the spring for the first time since losing their place there three years prior.

Steadying back-to-back ninth-placed finishes in Jewson Division One led to last season’s grand return to step 5 business as champions with 99 points from their 42 games and a 13-point advantage over a Calne Town team that frantically chased them to no avail.

Baggaley’s battlers are, five fixtures in, still seeking a first league victory of their campaign as they prepare for tomorrow's trip to Reading City’s ground for an FA Vase first round qualifying affair with Woodley United, who have made a promising start to their Combined Counties League Division One programme.

It's a higher-level environment Hallen, driven by long-serving chairman Lee Fairman, have been keen to test themselves at again having prior competed successfully in the Western League's top tier for some two unbroken decades before their switch to the Hellenic Premier Division and subsequent 2022 tumble as the league's bottom-placed team.

After three progressive seasons in Jewson Division One, the Moorhouse Lane champions find themselves fighting for points back in the Hellenic Prem; and their enthusiastic leader, 46, named Jewson Division One Manager of the Year for spearheading last term's impressive title romp, has been largely encouraged by what he’s seen so far from his team.

Baggaley maintained: “Our results so far tell you how competitive we've been, without always getting the results our performances have deserved.

“We dominated for much of our first game at Mangotsfield, created more chances than them and ended up losing 1-0 to a penalty.