Lower Breck manager Gary Moore has praised Jawad Jebrin after scooping the North West Counties Premier Division Player of the Month award.
A hat-trick against West Didsbury & Chorlton was arguably the highlight for the attacker as Lower Breck have slowly risen up the table.
Breck sit fourth in the form table after picking up four wins from a possible six. During that time, they have beaten two of the top three in the form of Wythenshawe Town and AFC Liverpool.
In their last outing, they needed a late penalty save from Theo Roberts to earn a point away at Burscough to extend their unbeaten run. The clean sheet also meant they shutout their opponents in each of their last three.
Despite the lucky escape, Moore felt the stalemate was a fair result. He told Off The Park: “Fair result on the day, saying that we were probably lucky to come away with a point because they missed a penalty late on.
“It was one of those days, we missed a lot of clearcut chances and they missed a couple of half-chances but we’ve got to finish our dinner, we missed two or three really big chances to get that opening goal and you build on that.
“Seen the result [on Tuesday] Burscough, four draws on the spin, they’re a good side, I said it wouldn’t be an easy game and I think people think that because they seen we beat Wythenshawe on the Thursday but there certainly isn’t. On reflection, probably a fair result.”
This weekend, they host Winsford United looking to climb the table further. In contrast to their campaign last season and the start, Moore has cast his sights up as opposed to checking their shoulders.
He continued: “We beat them away, tough game, they’ve had a mini-rebuild since then, I think it’ll be another tough game. We’ve got a couple of lads back, Connor Rankin and Jamie Menagh missed the Burscough game.
“We’ve got a couple of lads we’re looking at, to bring in a few more, bolstering numbers. We had a couple of 16-year-old’s on the bench on Saturday from our youth team so it’s another one of those things.
“Where we’ve had this rebuild ourselves it’s five clean sheets in eight games and three clean sheets on the spin, you’re going and beating Wythenshawe and following it up with a point at Burscough so you’ve got to keep chipping away.
“We’re looking at the teams above us, not below us at the moment, whilst a few teams have games in hand, if we can keep winning games, picking up points, we can keep climbing.”
JJ’s accolade scored Breck a first player of the month award since Ste Milne managed the feat in 2019. Reflecting on an impressive rise, Moore hopes it is the first of many.
He continued: “Made up for him, we tried to manage him at the start of the season with so many games. From our point of view, I don’t know if we were expecting too much from him too soon because we know how good he can be.
“He sets himself targets so he was disappointed in his own performances as well but he’s a player who wants to score, create and gets himself down when he doesn’t. The Longridge game away from home was the one, he was on the bench and we were 3-0 down at half-time, I spoke to him and said ‘listen, this is your opportunity now, we’re putting eggs in other baskets sometimes, trying to mix it up and do different things.
“Do we give you a run in the team and give you the next 20 games and see how you run with it’. His performances straight away, that 45 minutes in a team that was well-beaten on the day he was quality. He’s carried that one, he missed a sitter on Saturday but he’s been first class, his attitudes been first class, you see that smile on his face when the goals go in.
“It’s easier when performances are much better but he’s been at the forefront of that, his performances have helped us raise that. He’s just a constant threat, made up for him, we want more of the same, goals, assists and more player of the months.”
[Featured image: Nick Gerrard]
