Underwood keeps the pressure on

Published 18 Mar 2010 13:00 0 Comments

SANDHURST Town boss Jon Underwood is keeping the pressure on his young side to ensure their Combined Counties League season doesn't peter out into disappointment.

With 11 games to go, the Fizzers are still targeting a top six finish in the Premier Division and Underwood insists there will be no easing up in the closing weeks of the season.

The Fizzers were fortunate to secure a 2-1 home win against Hanworth Villa last weekend and Underwood is determined not to allow his side to switch off in the final two months of their campaign.

He said: "We were rubbish last week but we won and the game had a real 'end of season' feel to it.

"But there are 11 games still to play and we want to avoid a sloppy end to the season and finish as high as we can.

"If we look back at the season during the summer and we've finished 10th then we're going to be disappointed.

"Maybe the players lost a bit of focus when we lost a couple of games and our chances of a top three finish took a knock, but it's down to the management to ensure we maintain the high standards we've set all season right to the end.

"I set them a target of three wins from three games and the Hanworth result was the first part of that."

The Fizzers will look to complete the second and third legs of that triple test when they entertain Dorking this Saturday and then Wembley next Tuesday.

Ben Williams and Matt Weston should be available for both games after overcoming injuries, but Grant Nesbitt is unavailable and Toby Jannaway is suspended.

The Fizzers will certainly need to raise their game if they want to meet Underwood's nine-point target after they required an 86th minute winner from veteran Neil Selby to salvage a vital victory last weekend.

Sandhurst had got off to a flying start as they took the lead after just 40 seconds when James Mepham collected Jonny Fisk's long throw, turned and fired home.

Sandhurst looked good for the next 20 minutes but then lost their way and it was no surprise when Lee Higgs tied things up for Villa seven minutes after half-time.

That looked like being the end of the scoring but Selby came off the bench to steer the ball home at the far post in the dying minutes to give Sandhurst a victory they barely deserved, as Underwood was quick to acknowledge.

"We were poor last weekend but we've played well this season and not won so these things even themselves out over the season," he said.

"We played well for the first 20 minutes and I thought we'd win by three or four but then we lost our way and got sloppy.

"It was just a last throw of the dice towards the end and Neil Selby was just in the right place at the right time for the winner."

Sandhurst: Agov, Murphy, Weston, Fisk, Nesbitt, Wilde, Blake, Smith, Jannaway, Palmer, Mepham. Subs used: Selby, Rapley, Simmonds.

Sandhurst are holding a 'Fun Day' in aid of Sport Relief this Saturday.

There will be a series of football challenges at Bottom Meadow from 11am onwards, with penalty shootouts, a crossbar challenge, mini-soccer games and a keep-uppy event.

Players (aged 10-18) from any local clubs are welcome to attend. Admission to Sandhurst's home game against Dorking is free for those people who arrive before 2pm, while the entrance fee for anyone who arrives after 2pm will be donated to Sport Relief.

Tweet

Post a comment

Your Comment:

Registered users log in here

Username or email

Password

If you are registered with us, you can login here. If you are not registered, do so now.
Once logged in you wont have to complete word verification each time you post.

Prefer not to register?

Screen Name *required

Email (not displayed) *required

Usernames must be 4 - 20 characters. Registration only takes a few minutes. Registered users can also take part in competitions and other features of the site.

Word Verification:
Enter the text as shown.

Return to the main index, get more from this section or browse our Sport archives.

Follow @bracknellnews