DROITWICH Spa sharpshooter James Lemon is aiming to push on with his fruitful goalscoring record after reaching the 50-goal milestone for the club.
Since joining the Saltmen back in December 2014, the 20-year-old striker has proved to be a valuable asset to Droitwich, netting half a century of goals in his short spell with the Midland League Division Two side, with his 50th goal coming at Austrey Rangers a fortnight ago.
In his first campaign under the management of Wayne Oliver and Worcester City legend Mark Owen – who scored over a 100 goals for the club – Lemon helped himself to 14 goals in 17 appearances, but this season, the youngster has really found his feet, finding the back of the net 36 times in 28 games.
An impressive goalscoring record that Lemon feels can still be improved upon in the remaining games of the season and for future campaigns.
“Since joining Droitwich I have really enjoyed playing football,” he said.
“I was playing at a few clubs before joining Spa but I was lacking confidence in my game but now, my game has improved and I get on really well with everyone at the club.
“I was finding my feet a little in my first season but felt that I could do better and this season I have come out the blocks really fast.
“I’m really pleased with how I’m performing at the moment but it isn’t over yet so we’ll see how many goals I have at the end of the season.
“It feels great to have scored 50 times in such a short period with Droitwich but I hope there’s many more goals to come in the future.
“Out of all 50 goals, the one against Chelmsley Town away was my favourite even though we lost the game.
“I didn’t touch the ball for the whole game then last kick of the game, the throw in has come, their centre half has headed it out, I’m on the edge of the box and volleyed into the top corner so that felt good.”
Under the management of the Oliver and Owen, Lemon lifted the lid on what it’s like to play under the duo but insisted they’ve had a real positive influence on him throughout his time with the Saltmen.
“Mark’s goalscoring record speaks for itself and Wayne’s been in the game for many years and that helps me improve every week,” he said.
“I’ve been with Mark for years through the Worcester City Academy so I know him really well and he tells me where I’m going wrong and shows me what I can do better.
“I’ve also known Wayne for a few years now and he’s been a massive influence on me too.”
Lemon and the rest of his team-mates are currently in a tight battle to secure promotion to Division One, with Spa sitting in second with seven games remaining.
However, with league leaders Chelmsley Town and third place Alvis Sporting Club having games in hand on the Saltmen, the promotion chase is going down to the wire.
But Lemon believes Spa are more than capable of finishing in the top two come the end of the season.
“I honestly think we can do it and a lot of the lads think we can do it too,” he said.
“We’ve got the confidence in ourselves and we still have to go to Alvis.
“Alvis and Chelmsley have got to play each other as well so if we don’t drop any silly points in our remaining games, I think we will be right up there at the end of the season.”
Spa are also on course to come away with silverware this season.
Despite being dumped out of the Les James Challenge Cup following a 2-1 defeat to Alvis on Saturday, the Saltmen are in the final of the Worcestershire FA Junior Cup and have the opportunity to reach the final of the Presidents Cup should they defeat Chelmsley this Saturday afternoon.
Lemon said: “We are in a really good position to get some silverware.
“We’ve worked hard all season and we knew from pre-season we was going to go for everything and I think it’s shown.”
With Lemon bang in form, the prospect of sides higher up the non-league pyramid coming to sign him are a real possiblity, but he was quick to quash any rumours of him leaving the Saltmen.
“At the moment I’m at Droitwich, I’m enjoying my football at Droitwich and friends with a lot of the lads here.
“If the right club comes in then I will look closely at my options but for now, I’m playing for Droitwich and scoring for Droitwich so my future is here.”
