PAUL Smith hailed the immediate impact of striker Gary Hay, writes Peter McKinney.

The veteran goal-getter bagged a brace on his debut as Bromsgrove Sporting defeated Pilkington XXX 3-2 on Bank Holiday Monday.

Smith has had a perfect start to his tenure at the Victoria Ground as a new-look team defeated Midlands Football League Division One title rivals AFC Hinckley 2-1 in Leicestershire.

The new Bromsgrove boss has wasted little time in rebuilding his squad, drafting in Littleton captain Simon Fitter, Studley captain Sam Wills, Alvechurch centre back Scott Smith and midfielder Scott Hadland from Barwell.

Hay, who had previously played for Bromsgrove Rovers eight years ago before switching to Kidderminster Harriers, joined the Rouslers from Sutton Coldfield Town over the weekend.

Smith is still working hard to bolster his squad ahead of Saturday's FA Cup Preliminary Round clash at Coleshill on Saturday (3pm ko).

He said: "I am looking to sign players from the level above who are the top end of our division.

"Sam was my captain at Studley, Simon was skipper at Littleton and has played at a higher level, while Scott spent several seasons at Barwell.

"On Saturday we had four new signings in the squad so the players did very well, they stuck the game plan.

"Gary is another of those. We've played together and he was always someone I was keen to bring in.

"I am still looking to strengthen and assess the players already here.

"There are things I like and one or two I don't, I had texts from two players an hour before the game saying they were not available. That's not how I do things and those sort of things will stop."

Against Pilkington, Hay scored in the seventh and 71st minutes, with an effort fromJozef Jakab sandwiched in between.

Hadland and Smith cup-tied for for Saturday's cup clash against a Coleshill side who hammered Nuneaton Grif 10-0 in the previous round.

Smith added: "It's going to be tough game as we will be missing a few people but we're looking forward to the game."