SCREWFIX DIRECT LEAGUE: Tom Welch, 17, is pushing for a place in Westbury's starting line up against Weston St John this Saturday after impressing as a substitute in the weekend's 3-2 defeat.

The teenager, who signed for Westbury from Warminster this summer, was brought on in their opening day defeat at Chard and made an immediate impact by scoring Westbury's first with a powerful left-footed shot from 25 yards.

Welch enjoyed his first taste of Western League football and is now hopeful he will get his chance to impress from the start tomorrow.

He said: "Last weekend was a good experience for me and I certainly want more of the same.

"I am only young and I understand if the manager doesn't think I am ready yet for a place but if selected I am confident I can do well."

Derek Graham, Westbury manager, admitted Welch's performance has given him something to think about ahead of Saturday.

He said: "Tom played very well in his first ever Western League game and I have to give careful thought about whether or not to start him.

"He was allowed a free role last week and if he does start it will be interesting to see how he responds to the challenge."

Graham was disappointed with the defeat at Chard but is relieved to have got one of the worst games of the season out of the way.

"Chard away is always a tough game," he said. "Their sloping pitch

is really hard to come to terms with and I have never enjoyed much success on it.

"We had a plan to hold them to 0-0 at half-time but four minutes before the break they scored two goals and really took the game away from us.

"We responded well and showed great spirit but we have to concentrate for the whole 90 minutes."

Striker Lee Carpenter may also be given a starting place this week after being unlucky to be on the bench last game.

Westbury are still without the services of new signing Russell Fishlock but Graham believes it is important they start picking up points.

He said: "It has been a blow to be without Russell and we are hoping he will be back for our FA Cup game next weekend. Our first four league fixtures all look potentially tough matches but we need to get something from them."

Westbury staged a spirited fight-back against Chard on Saturday

but two late goals were still not enough to save them from an opening day defeat.

Westbury struggled to come to terms with Chard's notorious

sloping pitch as bad defending allowed the home side to race into a three-goal lead.

United refused to give up and in a rousing finale nearly stole a point as a Jamie Bradley effort was superbly saved by the Chard keeper in the 93rd minute.

The match started at a frenetic pace and Westbury striker Steve Seals was unlucky to see his shot clear the bar after only two minutes.

Chard took the lead on 39 minutes when Steve Gawen latched on to a Paul Nicholls header to round Westbury's Mark Batters and slot the ball into the empty net.

Chard's second goal a few minutes later was a carbon copy of their opener, only this time Danny Wilson was the scorer.

Gawen made it 3-0 10 minutes into the second half as Chard looked to have made the game safe.

Tom Welch came on for Westbury and immediately changed the game when his 25 yard left footed shot pulled a goal back.

United reduced their arrears further with ten minutes remaining when Steve Perkins rose to head the ball into the goal and make the final score 3-2.