THE fifth in a new series of interviews with our local football managers about their highs, lows and hopes for their club.

After Porthleven co-manager Graham Blake gave us his answers last week, this time it’s the turn of his fellow co-manager Jamie Thomson.

Best moment?

There are three highlights for me so far in my first stab at management. It’s the only silverware anyone has won this season and that was the Dave Gardner [Memorial] Tournament, and given that’s now obviously ended, to be the final winners of it was a proud moment, especially the 3-1 win over Helston at our place as that was a ‘flag in the sand’ type of moment.

I wasn’t present for it but I was massively impressed with how the boys responded and played against Mousehole in the first home game against them [drew 2-2]. I know, having played Mousehole four or five times this season, how relentless and dominant they can be, so for the boys to have dug in and got that late equaliser was quite a good moment for us.

I think our best performance was Camelford away and we won 4-2. It was a really good win for me especially as I’m the coach as much as the manager. We’d worked on things, it had taken them a while for them to have been worked on and implemented, and exactly what we had done in training was evident in the game.

Biggest achievement so far?

It depends what way you look at it but winning something is obviously an achievement and the only we’ve won and could have won was the Dave Gardner.

I know the season is null and void so it’s not an achievement as such, but we see it as an eighth-place finish in our first season in the league with a new squad and new management team – it’s better than the club expected.

Hopes for the future?

If I’m playing, I want to do what I can to affect games and lead by example because I’m talking to them on the training pitch so I want to be able to demonstrate what I’m asking from them.

I think my motivation for anything I do in football is to try and show the people that things can be done a different way.

That’s my long-term ambition because I’ve seen first-hand how well a club can do and how community can grow when you have local players all playing for the love of it. There’s no feeling better than winning with your mates alongside you.

That’s been my drive and I’m not going to change who I am. I’m sticking to my principles which are doing things on the basis of enjoyment, effort, work rate, camaraderie and teamwork, all of the rest of the things that sport should be about and base my hopeful success on that.

What makes the club special to you?

You can’t get away from the fact that the pitch is quite special. Everybody knows it, if you play there you don’t forget it in a hurry. It’s massive but it’s picturesque, it looks great and when it’s not waterlogged it’s one of the best pitches in the county.

When I first went to Port, I’d played at Gloucester City, Cinderford Town, Swindon Supermarine, as a pro for a brief period at Cheltenham Town, these are what you class as big semi-pro clubs and professional outfits.

Some of the players [at Porthleven] were as good, [the likes of] Nigel Thwaites and the others that were there, Sid Taylor was in goal.

I just thought, ‘How is a club this size able to do this well and attract these players?’ and I suppose that’s what we’re trying to do now.

Yes, we’re a small fishing village in Cornwall but we’ll always take you on. That’s exactly what you get from the people down here, they’ll always give you their all.

We’re a gritty, resilient bunch and that’s what I’ve always felt when I’ve been at Port.