Striker Cedwyn Scott brought a successful - albeit extended - trial spell to its conclusion this week when he signed a short-term deal which keeps him at the club until the end of the current campaign.
It’s been a circuitous route for the 22-year-old who, once released having come through the academy system with Huddersfield, headed north of the border prior to making a return to non-league football closer to home, where things once again ignited.
A rapid haul of goals with Hebburn Town earned him a spell with north-east giants Newcastle United, and that was quickly followed by an invite to Cumbria, and some time with the Blues.
Speaking about his move this week, he said: “It’s been done quite quickly, which is probably better, to be honest, because I just want to be out there.
“I know I’m coming into a full-time environment again so it’s about making my mark. If I don’t step up someone else will, so I need to be in there first as soon as possible.”
“It’s a challenge I’m looking forward to,” he added. “I know I have to hit the ground running. The lads are at the top of the league and it’s up to me to fit in straight away.
“It helps that I’ve been here for four weeks already. As soon as I came here everybody was great, they welcomed me in and made it a good environment for me to be at. I’m really grateful for that.”
Looking back to when he first came to the club, we wondered if it had been a big decision to make with it being a trial spell where he knew he was going straight under the spotlight.
“It was just a no-brainer,” he insisted. “I wanted to be here. I want to be a full-time footballer, I made that clear when I was playing part-time at a great club, so it was an easy decision to make once I heard the gaffer was interested.
“It’s a great opportunity and hopefully it’s one I can take, because I want to prove a lot of people wrong. It’s been a tough few years with how things have happened, but it’s also been good.
“I’ve been through the full mixture of emotions but, at the moment, I’m just delighted that it’s worked out this way.”
But have there been any doubts along the way?
“Just under a year ago I wasn’t playing at a non-league club and I was starting to think that I just had to accept that it wasn’t going to happen for me,” he admitted. “As I was going through that I had some people saying that I should probably look for a job, and stuff like that, but I just kept believing.
“I’m still nowhere near, I know that, but I’m a step nearer. Even going back to when I was at Huddersfield and not getting a contract, football is about opinions and you have to be resilient and make sure you keep going.
“Hopefully with the hard work you do you also get a bit of luck along the way. That’s when you get your break.”
And he revealed that the spells north of the border and with Hebburn Town have proved to be valuable in terms of where he finds himself today.
“It was men’s football up in Scotland and I have learned a lot from that,” he told us. “With Hebburn, they’ve just been fantastic.
“I can’t speak highly enough of them. They’ve really supported me on this and it’s just a fantastic place to play football. The coaches and players over there were brilliant with me and they’ve helped me every step of the way.
“They didn’t get in my way when I got the chance to go to Newcastle, which shows how they are. That was really good for me, it got my fitness levels up and it was good for me to see exactly what that type of environment was like.
“That all stood me in good stead for coming here. It’s been easier for me to do this off the back of being with another professional club, rather than coming here and trying to hit the levels straight away.”
As for the second half of the season with United, he commented: “I think everyone can see it looks exciting.
“The manager has told me to come in and work hard and hopefully, if I do that, I’ll get an opportunity and earn a place in the team. Scoring in the reserve game at Rochdale is part of that.
“I actually had a chance earlier than the one where I scored, but once I got the first goal it settled me down a lot. Scoring goals breeds confidence for strikers and every time I play I want to get a goal, so that’s good for me.
“It doesn’t bother me what type of goal it is, I just want to be doing it. Scruffy, up close, 30-yards, it really doesn’t bother me. As long as it hits the back of the net, I’m happy.
“Playing down the middle is probably my best position, but I can play off to the left, which I’ve been doing a bit for Hebburn. It doesn’t really matter where I play, I just want to be in the action.
“I’m here to be as positive as I possibly can be, so I’ll be looking to get in the team and I’ll try to stay in it from there, so I can help the club as much as I can.”
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