Ayres keen to ‘push on’ with champions
Heathens boss 'buzzing' after side claims the title
The celebrations were in full flow on Tuesday evening and manager Chris Ayres admitted he was 'still buzzing' the next day after Flackwell Heath were crowned league champions with a 4-0 win over Hilltop.
The Heathens have been in sensational form in the final weeks of the season, winning nine league games in a row after going down to a surprise home defeat to Harefield United.
A four-point deduction for closest rivals Rayners Lane helped their cause, but it looks like they might not have needed it anyway, after Tuesday's win lifted them seven points clear of the second placed side with just one match to go. Incredibly, they've picked up an average of 2.6 points per game since December 1 to heap pressure on Rayners Lane and eventually overtake them.
It proved a comfortable night for the Heathens in the end, with Michael Harding firing them into an early lead before the floodgates opened in the second half with goals from Jethro Odumosu, Callum Mapley and Jamie Ayres confirming the win, the league title and promotion to step four.
“I'm still buzzing from last night to be honest,” he said. “It’s been a pressure situation the last few weeks. At times enjoyable, at times not.
“The boys have been amazing. Since we lost to Harefield, we’ve won nine on the trot and really ramped up the pressure.
“Last night, another clean sheet and a pleasing performance. The boys have learnt to deal with this sort of pressure really.
“Hilltop are a horrible team to play against, they play some brilliant football and they cause you problems. You have to give the ball up against them, but we had a game plan. We managed to sneak one early and they caused us a few problems, but we knew we’d be fitter and stronger than them and we came good in the end.”
There have been a couple of turning points in the past few weeks that have put Flackwell on course for the title. The first, and possibly most important, came when Wiktor Makowski swept home a 92nd minute penalty to beat third placed Bedfont Sports 1-0 away from home. While on Saturday, Lewis Pegg swept home an 85th minute winner as the hosts ground out victory over Edgware & Kingsbury in front of more than 600 supporters, Ayres' side going on to win the match 3-1.
He added: “We spoke about the
game at Bedfont. We’ve felt that was the turning point where we got the goal in the 91st minute.
“We felt that could be the one that just helped us get over the line. They were absolutely flying, but we got the penalty and won.
1-0. We had a massive crowd on Saturday of over 600. We had to dig in against Edgware who were fighting for their lives, but we ground it out in the end. We deserved to win but I was much happier with how things played out last night.”
The league title may now be done and dusted; however, Ayres has one or two more targets to achieve going into the final game at Chalfont St Peter on Saturday.
“We can get to 97 points which would be a massive achievement and we haven’t lost away from home all season,” he said. “I take a lot of pride from that.
“We’ve played 18 league games away from home and haven’t lost. It’s a huge achievement and if we can get one over the line at Chalfont it will conclude a good season.”
Ayres admits he's not yet sure
which league the side will be promoted to, with the most likely options the Southern League
Central Division or the Isthmian League South Central Division.
The manager favours the Isthmian League option, however, wherever they are assigned, he believes the club and his squad are in a good place to compete.
“They’ve (the FA) done some leagues, and we were put in with Thame and Aylesbury in the Southern League Central Division. But the preference would be to go into the Isthmian League South Central with Marlow and Ascot. We’re hoping that common sense would put us into that league.
“Everything is in place to go up. The ground grading is put in place for step four. Financially the club is in a better place, the crowds have been the best in the league. Player wise we have a squad that can compete and hold their own. The club are fully behind it, and that’s one of the reasons why I went there. I wanted to push on with the players and the team.”