SYLVANS have moved quickly and made an in-house appointment to fill the gap created by departing first-team boss Martyn de Garis.

Clive Bateman (pictured), a first-team fringe player during the club’s heady days of the 1990s, has moved up from coaching last season’s title-winning Sylvans Youth One side. He took little, if any, convincing to step up.

‘They asked me last Tuesday after a committee meeting on the Monday. I took a couple of days to think about it.’ Bateman, 33, is excited at the chance to test himself further and said that youth will get its chance. ‘We are quite happy to go with our youth and build on it.’

Bateman’s first job, though, is to stop the exodus of senior players. Matt Warren has left for St Martin’s and it seems very likely he will be followed to Blanche Pierre Lane by Naro Zimmerman, while Michael Watson and Sam Matthews are expected to rejoin North. Keeper Paul de Garis has also left for Bels.