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Sittingbourne striker Mitchell May being monitored by Football League clubs as boss Ryan Maxwell backs him to play higher
05:00, 07 February 2024
updated: 06:58, 09 February 2024
In-form Sittingbourne striker Mitchell May is attracting Football League interest.
EFL scouts were at Woodstock on Saturday as man-of-the-match May scored twice and provided two assists in a sparkling 5-0 victory over fellow form side Burgess Hill.
The youngster’s double took his tally for the season to 12 as promotion-chasing Bourne chalked up a fifth successive victory in Isthmian South East.
They made it six in a row with goals from Harry Hope and Danny Parish’s first for the club in a 2-1 win over Sevenoaks last night.
“Mitch is becoming a man - that’s evident in his play,” said Brickies boss Ryan Maxwell.
“It’s not just his goals, some of the individual moments he showed were absolute class.
“I’m definitely watching a player who will play higher up.
“You hear things and there were people there to watch him on Saturday.
“I won’t say who but there were league clubs and it’s great to see, although it’s typical in football, you do well for a while and people want to come and have a look at you to see what it’s all about.”
May, who scored his first Brickies hat-trick last month, is taking the attention in his stride, knowing he’s in good hands while he continues to develop his game.
Maxwell said: “He focuses on what I’m telling him and what I’m saying to him. Everything else is just white noise. I’ve taught him that much.
“Keep on listening, keep on learning and good things will happen when they’re supposed to.
“At the minute he’s still learning his trade and I mean that.
“He’s a natural footballer but he’s still having to learn the nuts and bolts, which is why I put him out on loan to Stansted earlier this season.
“He had work to do and he’s come back and taken that on board.
“I was watching a complete performance on Saturday but I’m aware there will be times when he doesn’t produce those performances because he is still learning and he will blow hot and cold a little bit.
“At the minute he’s in a fantastic vein of form, he’s super-confident and long may it continue.”
Strike partner Chris Harris also struck twice against Burgess Hill, keeping him neck-and-neck with May at the top of the scoring charts.
Donvieve Jones completed the tally in one of Sittingbourne’s best performances this season.
“It’s no mean feat, beating a team who are near the top of the form table 5-0,” said Maxwell.
“They’re a good side and you can see how they’ve got results.
“You can see that confidence in them and they want to play football.
“On another day, against another opposition, I’m sure they’d have felt confident of winning the game but we didn’t let them play or get into their stride. We were excellent all round, in every department.
“We scored some great goals and there were some outstanding performances.
“We had loads of legs in the team and some of our football was excellent.
“I was really pleased how we took Thursday’s training session, which was quite specific, into Saturday’s game.”
Alex Bentley continues to shine after missing the opening months of the season with a foot injury.
The 33-year-old, whose former clubs include Dagenham and AFC Hornchurch, reached the career milestone of 500 competitive appearances as Sittingbourne won 2-1 at East Grinstead on Tuesday last week.
“He’s come back from his injury and he’s been absolutely excellent,” said Maxwell.
“Be it right-sided centre-half, left-back, centre-midfield, he’s played all different positions and I’ve moved him in-game at times.
“It was nice to have him in midfield on Saturday where he showed real composure and quality and could influence the game and his team-mates. I’m delighted for him to reach 500 games.
“He’s a professional guy, he looks after his body, eats the right things and trains hard.
“He’s been a great role model and that’s one of the reasons I brought him here, to raise the standards of everybody, and he’s done that.”
Sittingbourne visit struggling Erith & Belvedere on Sunday (2pm).