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Smith on hot goal streak with UK club

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Jonte Smith is set to make his debut for Crawley Town reserves in their match with Cheltenham at Seasons Training Ground today.The 17-year-old striker was promoted to his club’s reserves after netting his fifth goal in as many appearances in Crawley Town Academy’s 2-1 home win over Gillingham at the weekend.It was the Reds Under18s’ fourth straight win in the Youth Alliance South East Conference this season.Smith opened his team’s scoring in the 25th minute with a composed finish following a superb move down the left flank to extend a red hot scoring streak stretching back to August 13.The Bermudian footballer now intends to pick up where he left off if given the chance to play against Cheltenham today.“I am excited and hopefully I can continue scoring because the more I score the more opportunities I may get,” Smith told The Royal Gazette. “I am really enjoying my football right now while the team (Academy) have been doing well.”The former North Village youth player attributes his remarkable early season goalscoring exploits to his ability to “be in the right place at the right time”.“What’s helping me in games is my movement and my desire to be a professional footballer,” Smith added.The son of former Bermuda cricket captain Clay Smith penned a one-year development deal with the English League Two side earlier this year and since then has wasted no time making his presence felt playing at the academy level.Smith officially opened his account at his new club with a 20-yard thunderbolt after coming on as a late sub in Crawley Town Academy’s 6-1 home loss to Leyton Orient.Prior to signing with the club the promising striker had a spell with Sutton United in the Ryman Youth League and also trained with the likes of Stoke City, Nottingham Forest and Burton Albion’s youth teams.It was during his spell with Sutton United that Crawley first recognised Smith’s potential.The Bermuda Under-17 international has long harboured an ambition of playing professional football and if all goes accordingly he hopes to turn pro as early as next year.But in the meantime further conditioning himself to withstand the cut and thrust of English football remains high on his list of priorities.“The game is very quicker and the players are more physical over here,” he said. “I’m coping pretty well but there’s still a lot more I need to do to get to where I want to be.”Crawley Town prevailed 3-1 over Bradford City at Broadfield Stadium on Saturday.Bradford’s Bermudian striker Nahki Wells was not included in the line-up for his club’s away League Two clash.

Golden boot: Jonte Smith has scored five goals for Crawley Town Academy in as many appearances this season.Photo by Glenn Tucker