FA Trophy heartbreak for Burgess Hill Town as they lose to Phoenix Sports

Untypically playing the same team twice in seven days, having lost 3-2 to the Kent side a week prior, the Hillians were frustrated once again.

Jack Hopkins headed in the opener in the 21st minute before the Sports doubled their lead just before half-time, as Kenny Alireu rounded off a swift counter attack.

Despite an improved second-half performance, the hosts couldn’t find the net as another miserable afternoon came to an end at The Green Elephants Stadium.

Wormull said: “We’ve got to start putting in 90 minutes of hard graft. We know we have players that are good enough but it’s about going back to basics now. We need to work harder.

“We have to start picking up points and sometimes performances have to be sacrificed for that. We just have to get those results now.”

Hillians supporters welcomed the return of Scott Kirkwood to the side and Wormull was pleased with the midfielder’s performance.

He said: “Scotty was excellent today, considering he’s not had many minutes. He did what was needed, got round the pitch, broke things up and that’s all I can ask of him.”

The Hill manager added: “It’s got to the point now where I need to have players that I can trust.

“I want to put out eleven players that the fans can trust, that I can trust, that are going to give everything and that’s all the fans would ask.

“I understand (the fans) frustration. The players have got to understand that they’re here to excite people, to show people how good they are, and I don’t think they do that enough.

“The young players are learning and it’s a tough lesson, but I’ve got a lot of confidence that we will come through it and have a very good team for the next five years.”