Final day drama: Saunders praises his side's 'unbelievable desire to win'

Haywards Heath manager Shaun Saunders has praised his side's '˜unbelievable desire to win games' as they bid to win the Southern Combinations Premier Division.
Shaun SaundersShaun Saunders
Shaun Saunders

Heath have not lost since a 3-1 away defeat against Newhaven in a run which has seen them win ten straight games and in doing so already sealing promotion to the Bostik South division after they beat Horsham YMCA 2-0 at home on Saturday.

Saunders admitted promotion was always his side’s goal. He said: “First and foremost it was about us and getting out of this league, so promotion was always, always our top priority after the disappointment of last season.

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“Now we have given ourselves a chance of winning the league, albeit we still need a favour somewhere down the line and we still have a tough game to go but we have everything to play for we feel.”

Heath sit top of the league two points above second-placed Three Bridges, however their rivals have one game in hand - which is against Crawley Down Gatwick tonight (Thursday).

With one game still to play for Saunders’ side, the manager is fully aware it is another must-win game.

“We have a tough last game at Chichester, we’re not daft we know only a win will do now and we’ve had to win every game and now we need a favour somewhere down the line, and Bridges do have some tough games this week.

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“They play Worthing United on Saturday who on their day are a tough side.”

Heath’s extraordinary run of successive wins has seen them rise from sixth to top, and Saunders has put this down to his players’ desire to win games.

“The players have been unbelievable I have to say and the people around me, everybody has all stepped up a gear, we all knew we had to step up to the plate and go up another gear and we are reaping the benefits of that at the moment.

“We have to win but that’s been the way for the last ten games so but we’ve got this unbelievable desire to win games at the moment because we know they’re all must win high pressure games but we’ve dealt with it fantastically.”

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Saunders admitted his side have received great support this season but insisted upon promotion they can still build an even bigger core of support.

“It’s a huge week for the club but it’s exciting to be a part of, it’s fantastic for the club it’s a great time to be a part of it all.

“Our support has gone up massively, but we could still do with some more of the locals coming down and seeing what they’ve got because the town has a fantastic club at the moment and they should be proud.”