Eccleshill United boss Lee Elam delighted for Idris Atta

The Eagles’ boss brought the forward to the club this summer after he impressed at the Pro Elite Woodkirk Football Academy, which Elam is the founder of.

Atta also got to showcase his talent at Glasshoughton Welfare on a temporary deal last season.

However, he had to be patient to get a starting birth at Eccleshill, but it was well worth the wait.

Atta bagged a hat-trick on his first competitive start for the Eagles on Wednesday evening as the Bradford outfit claimed a 6-5 victory over Beverley Town.

Speaking to the T&A about his new signing, Elam said: “I know Idris really well, and he’s always been a good player technically. He just needs to be fitter.

“He got good gametime at Glasshoughton last season and did well, so we wanted to bring him into the club this year.

“He came on against Albion (Sports) and was extremely good; everybody was talking about him, so it was only right that he started against Beverley.

“He took his chance brilliantly, and I can only see him going from strength to strength from here because he has all the attributes to push on.”

Elam added: “It will be hard to leave him out at Silsden this weekend, that’s for sure.”

Talent Ndlovu (facing camera) scored what proved to be the winner in Eccleshill's remarkable match against Beverley. (Image: Martin Taylor) Looking ahead to the contest at Silsden today, who currently sit in 4th place in the NCEL Premier Division, Eccleshill’s boss said: “They have (Silsden) have a very strong squad, so it will be a tough contest. I think they will be there or thereabouts come the end of the season.

“We know that if we want to be competing towards the top end of the table come the end of the season, then we’ll need to take points off some of the teams in and around that area, and Silsden are one of those teams.

“But, for us, three points is all that matters whoever we’re playing against, and this weekend will be no different.”

Eccleshill have shipped 13 goals in their last three competitive fixtures, and Elam admitted that defence is an area in which his side need to tighten up.

He said: “In pre-season and the first couple of games in the league, we looked okay at the back but the result in the cup (7-3 defeat at home to Chadderton in the FA Vase) and Wednesday night’s result perhaps show that things need to be worked on.

“We have changed things about in the last couple of games because that’s what you need to do at this level, but that doesn’t mean we should be conceding the number of chances and goals that we are doing.”

Elam added: “I think the lads will admit that there has been a number of individual errors, whether that’s from the defence, midfielder or even the attack in set piece situations.

“I won’t single out individuals, but the players are aware that they need to be doing better in the defensive and transitional phases of play.

“Because we’re an attacking team, we are vulnerable to the counter-attack and sometimes we can put ourselves in a sticky situation through the odd silly mistake.

“If we take some of those mistakes out of our game, then we’ll have a strong platform to build on.”