Flackwell Heath overcome challenges to beat London Colney

In-form Flackwell Heath overcame various little tests and challenges to claim all three points from Saturday's trip to a windswept London Colney.

On a poor surface, both teams struggled to play quality football, but the Heathens adapted to the difficult conditions better and, following a spell of pressure in the second half, grabbed the only goal of the game through top scorer Fabian Driffill.

His strike took him to 15 goals for the season and manager Chris Ayres was delighted for a player who leads the line so well for the Heathens. However, victories like the one on Saturday are built on a solid defence.

“It was a good performance on a pitch that wasn't in a good condition,” said Ayres.

“It was a difficult ground to find, it's sort of hidden away and I think of the 40 people down there, 30 of them were from Flackwell.

“There was also a gale force wind, which we were up against in the first half. It was so hard to play on that pitch, really difficult, but we adapted to the conditions well and managed to get in at half-time at 0-0.

“In the second half we had the wind at our backs, and we stepped up. We managed to get on the front foot and, after creating a few good chances, Fabian Driffill got his 15th goal of the season, so I was really pleased for him.

“We then managed to hold out quite comfortably and it was good to bounce back after last week's defeat (2-1 to league leaders Risborough Rangers).

“We're still a young side but we're learning how to win games and going to places like this is a good experience for the players.”

He added: “We’ve brought Callum Mapley in from Thame and Ryan Avery, from Northwood, two players I know really well.

“They’ve been outstanding. We’ve also done a bit of work with the defence. It's a young back four, and we have a young goalkeeper in Isaac Hay as well, but you go into games feeling like you've got a chance because of our strong defence.

“The games we've lost this season have only been by one goal as well, so they give us a strong foundation from which to play.”

Flackwell's third league win in four matches lifts them to seventh in the Spartan South Midlands Premier Division, and the team would move above Harpenden Town into fifth should they win their matches in hand. Ayres is not ruling out a tilt on the top four, should those sides take points off each other between now and the end of the season.

“Slowly but surely, we're edging up the league,” added Ayres. “We're up to seventh and with our games in hand we could move fifth. That would be a great position to finish up in, especially after the start the club made. Perhaps we can still make it into the top four, but that will depend on those other four clubs and whether they take points off each other. But fifth would be great and we could look ahead to next season with confidence.

“We’ve only lost to Risborough and New Salamis in the league since we’ve been there. That shows you how far we’ve come.”

Flackwell will be looking to maintain their current form and upward trajectory when they host Tring Athletic on Saturday. Tring may be 18th in the table but they stunned fourth-placed Hadley 2-1 at the weekend.

“They got a great result against Hadley who have been flying so we know it's going to be another tough game,” added Ayres. “But if we perform to near our best, we've got a good chance of getting another three points and putting further pressure on the teams above us.”