MILLS: NOW TO GO FOR A FOURTH!

WALTON & Hersham’s goalscoring full-back Harry Mills has urged the club to aim to go up for a FOURTH year in a row after making it a hat-trick of promotions.

The Swans came back from a goal down to defeat Hanworth Villa 3-1 in last Sunday’s Isthmian South Central play-off final in front of a bumper 2,095 crowd at the Elmbridge Xcel Sports Hub.

Scott Harris’ side look likely to be placed in the Southern League after their third elevation in three years, which has taken them from the depths of the Combined Counties League at Step 6 to just one level below the National League.

And Mills, who scored 15 goals and added 14 assists for a Walton side who hit the net 102 times in the regular league season, insists the Surrey club should be looking to move up again after a successful three years under their seven-man ownership of 19-yearolds who took over the club in 2019.

“I always felt the club should never have been so low,’ said the 27-yearold. “It’s always been a club at Isthmian League level in my eyes.

“Now we’re back at Step 3, the club doesn’t seem like it’s stopping and I’m sure we will crack on from here.

“Every year, Scott has said to us that we’re not going up just to make up the numbers, we’re going there to compete. The play-offs are the minimum in everyone’s mind. We know it’ll be tough going up but if you don’t strive, you don’t get anywhere.”

Mills, who is training to be a PE teacher, believes the key was putting the previous week’s title capitulation at Thatcham behind them to win promotion the hard way.

He added: “I like to think we’re sore losers. We knew if we stuck to our jobs, there was no way we wouldn’t win.

“In front of big crowds, we put in big performances and luckily in the last two to three years when we’ve had big games, we’ve got the better of most teams.”