AFTER winning his first game in charge 8-0, new Tenbury Town boss Kieran Fish saw his side slump to a 6-1 defeat to visitors Holme Lacy on Saturday.

And while dealing with such highs and lows is one of the burdens of being a manager whether you’re in the Premiership or the Premier Division of the Herefordshire League, it’s probably not what the doctor had in mind when ordering the 24-year-old to hang up his boots for the remainder of the season so that he could recover from open heart surgery.

Fish was on the operating table just eight weeks ago but Saturdays without football was never going to be an option for him.

“I was told that I couldn’t play for the rest of the season,” he explained.

"Darren Worthington had decided to pack it in as manager so I thought it would give me something to do on a Saturday and I could take care of the coaching as well.

“It started off well with the win against Pegasus Reserves and we were all hyped up after that.

"We thought we could take that into the Holme Lacy game but it just wasn’t to be.

“It wasn’t a 6-1 game, it was just that they had two really quick wingers who made all the difference as they got in behind us.”

Alex Bright scored a second half consolation for Tenbury but Fish added that his preparations for the game weren’t helped when Matt Harber – the only recognised keeper he had – announced that he was unavailable less than 24 hours before the game.

“That put a real dampener on things before we even kicked off,” the Town manager added.

“We didn’t have another keeper so Dean Morris offered.

"He’s not a natural keeper but he pulled off some saves including one from a penalty.

"Unfortunately, someone had encroached and the referee ordered the kick to be retaken and they scored.

“It makes a mockery of trying to choose your best team because players don’t seem to have the commitment to play football on a Saturday.

"I think that was part of the reason why Darren gave it up.

“I want to play football 24/7 and I can’t wait to be back out there on the pitch again.

"I can’t understand it when some players would rather go shopping on a Saturday and there are others who do turn up who have been out drinking the night before.”

Town head to fourth-placed Fownhope this weekend, with Fish hoping for a game with a little less drama.

But he knows it will be another tough test for his side against a team who have yet to lose in the league having won five and drawn their other six matches.