Hats Off to Jake

...as Argyle began pre-season with a win against St Blazey, where he and the team started to look to form the good habits to carry over into the campaign.

The Greens saw off their Cornish South West Peninsula League Premier Division hosts 9-0 at Blaise Park, with a third of those strikes coming in the form of Jake's first-half hat-trick before he was substituted at half-time.

Much like last season, Jake is wasting little time finding the net, and he believes the performances at both ends of the pitch provide sound footing for the Pilgrims. 

“It's habits,” said Jake. “We didn't concede; we got all the goals in; and that's what we've got to carry on doing.

“If you're used to scoring here, then when it comes to the [league and cup] games, it's just going to come naturally. So obviously you want to carry that on and hopefully we can keep getting the goals. Of course it's confidence for any player if they're scoring goals and they're enjoying it. You're forming habits now: scoring goals, not conceding goals - it's all going to help.”

Jake reveled in a central striking role alongside a host of new signings that appear to have gelled quickly after coming to Home Park. A clutch of those new men will be competing with Jake for attacking roles in the team – including Jordan Slew and David Goodwillie, who each scored twice. 

“Just from what I've seen, he's a great footballer,” said Jake, on David. “He can get on the ball; he scores goals; and he's going to be a great addition to the team. 

“Obviously we've got some good players in, which is always good to see, and we've lost a few key players, but hopefully we can recover well from that. It's refreshing, in a way, in terms of going again. 

“You saw, today, the movement and stuff. In training, you've seen where the boys have got a good understanding. Keep that up and take it into the games as they come.”