Hanwell Town manager, Chris Moore, has described guiding the Pitching In Southern League Premier South club to safety as one of the biggest accomplishments of his career.
Goal difference ultimately saved the Geordies from the drop as they look forward to a third successive season at this level.
“This club is growing and progressing all of the time but we are still punching well above our weight,” admitted Moore. “Everyone has worked so hard to be able to maintain our place at this level; it’s certainly one of my biggest accomplishments in the game.
“It was really important for us to stay up. If I am being totally honest, with three games to go it didn’t look good for us, but I looked into the whites of the players’ eyes and asked for one big final push, and they delivered.
“We faced two games in less than 48 hours, at home to Plymouth Parkway on the Thursday evening and then Hungerford Town on the Saturday, and won them both, which was key.
“Playing two such big games in such a short space of time and with the stakes being so high, it extremely difficult but my players did what they had to do.
“Relegation battles take a lot of our you both in terms of physical energy and mental energy and I cannot praise my players and staff enough.
“Of course, we’ll learn a lot from this season; there are things that I will do differently next season, but for now it is time to celebrate what we achieved, recharge the batteries and, more importantly, spend time with family because they do bear the brunt in situations like this.
“We’ll come back refreshed and ready to go again in preparation for the new season and all that it will hold in store for us.”
Despite losing 2-0 at Salisbury on the final day of the season, Moore’s side had done enough to secure a 17th-place finish having ended the previous campaign three places and two points better off.
IMAGE: Hanwell Town FC
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