STEETON manager Roy Mason thinks people might be starting to take his side more seriously, as their good run continued.

After thumping Cleator Moor Celtic 6-1 on the opening day of the North West Counties Football League First Division North season at the end of July, the Chevrons stumbled, and had only won twice more by mid-October.

But a surprise West Riding County Cup win over rivals Silsden was followed by two thumping victories, and Saturday's excellent 1-1 draw with league leaders Pilkington.

Steeton only moved from amateur to semi-professional football in 2018, and Mason said: "There maybe has been a bit of a lack of respect towards us from some quarters in the past.

"But I was chatting to our old chairman after the Pilkington game, and we both agreed that people are now taking the club more seriously.

"We have good players and things are happening.

"Silsden have been at semi-pro level for 20 years, and in our first-ever competitive game against them last month, we deserved to win.

"Pilkington had won all of their first nine league games, but we feel we should have beaten them on Saturday.

"Jordan Townend (who scored Steeton's late equaliser at the weekend) has come back to us from Golcar United, and we've also got Nathan Tayo in from them too, even though they're a step higher.

"There's no way (defender) Jonny Hodgkinson would have dropped down to this level unless he believed in what we were doing either."

Discussing Townend more specifically, Mason said: "We've brought in a bit of experience over the last couple of weeks, that we maybe didn't have earlier in the season.

"We didn't want Jordan to leave us for Golcar in the first place, but it was an opportunity for him to get play-off football there, and ultimately he helped them get promoted.

"But overall, it didn't work out for him there, and he was always welcome back here.

"He's playing a bit further forward with us than he has in the past, as I know he's got goals in him, and it didn't really surprise me, that brilliant goal he scored at the weekend."

Steeton are still by no means clear of relegation danger though, and face a trip to in-form Bacup Borough on Saturday,

Mason said: "In this league, anyone can beat anyone, it all depends on who turns up on the day.

"If you let your standards drop for any game, you can lose to anybody.

"But there's a bit of belief and steel in this team at the moment, and when we had 23 lads at training last week, I said to our staff that I thought it was the strongest squad we'd ever had."

That has taken time though, with Mason saying: "I said all along that we couldn't get carried away with that opening day win over Cleator, as they were poor that day.

"We knew we'd face tougher challenges after that, but we've got good players in over the last few weeks too.

"As well as it being good to bring them to the club, that was the catalyst for some of the boys already here to raise their game.

"We've got a good set of lads, but some are only 18 or 19, so bringing in that experience recently was key."