HATFIELD Town manager Trevor Lloyd reflected on what has been a successful 2008 following his side s 4-0 thrashing of Arlesey Athletic on Saturday. He said: If you d have said at the start of the season that we would have been third in the league at this

HATFIELD Town manager Trevor Lloyd reflected on what has been a successful 2008 following his side's 4-0 thrashing of Arlesey Athletic on Saturday.

He said: "If you'd have said at the start of the season that we would have been third in the league at this point, I would have taken it.

"The last few weeks have been full of ups and downs, but overall it has been a good year.

"Obviously winning the County League last year was brilliant for the lads, and even now in this league I think we can go out there and beat anyone if we play to our strengths.

"We have a strong team, and are full of confidence going into the second half of the season."

The Herns Lane-based club were too strong for their Bedfordshire opponents on Saturday, with goals coming from Rhys Lawrence (2), substitute Gary Coley and front-man Daniel Staples.

"I was pleased with the win today, and also pleased with how my players responded to what we said at half-time," said the Blueboys' boss.

"I wasn't too happy with the way the first half went and thought we played the long-ball too much and weren't passing it around like we usually do.

"We had to be patient I felt, and in the end we were too strong.

"I was pleased that Dan (Staples) got his goal, but we have goals all over the pitch.

"I changed the formation going into the game back to how we played last season, using Staples' strength and play to try and get Rhys (Lawrence) free and it worked quite well."

Hatfield will take on fifth-placed New Bradwell St Peter tomorrow (Saturday, December 27) in what could well be a tricky fixture.