Bashley boss Steve Riley has professed himself "chuffed to bits" to have landed striker Richard Gillespie on a new two-year contract.

Riley had pledged to move heaven and earth to keep the lightning-fast front-runner at Bashley Road and was delighted to get a call from the Romsey-based youngster this week saying he wanted to stay.

While most managers will be trawling the area this summer in search of an elusive 25-plus goals-a-season striker, Riley can rest happy in the knowledge that he already has his man.

With 26 in his locker last season to add to 33 from 2004/5, Gillespie is already one of the most feared marksmen in the Ryman League Division 1.

And, at just 21, he can only get better.

The Southampton University student has made no secret of the fact that he would like to play higher, but Riley believes he will benefit from sticking with an improving Bashley side who fell just short of the Ryman 1 play-offs last season.

"Gilly's got youth on his side and it will be good for him to spend another season here, learn a bit more and become a better all-round player," he said.

"Then he will be ready to step up a level and it would be nice if he could achieve that with this club.

"Gilly's got pace and he knows where the goal is, but we've talked about the areas he needs to work on like when to run and when not to run.

"We'll be doing a lot of work on link-up play involving Gilly.

"If he takes all that on board, he could turn himself into such a good player it's untrue, but he underestimates himself to a certain degree.

"He certainly has the ability to progress. Signing him is a great coup."

Bashley's giant 6ft 5in goalkeeper David Elm has also signed a new two-year deal.

Those signings, together with the retention of other key players, including club captain Paul Gazzard, supporters' player-of-the-year Matt Parnell and defenders Josh Thomas and Neil Morant, send out a clear signal that Bash mean business for 2006/07.

"I'm really excited about next season," said Riley. "We've got a good pre-season in the pipeline and it's all very positive."

Riley would be pleased to hear from any players with experience at either Southern or Ryman level or above. The club number is 01425 620280.