By Ed Bartram
To borrow a cliché, it’s been a season of two halves for Hurstpierpoint Football Club, but their Mid Sussex League campaign finally limped to its conclusion last month.
With the Championship division split into a top and bottom half, the 1st Team competed in a seven team mini-league to avoid relegation. It turned out to be a fiercely competitive group, with no side managing to pull away at the top, and every side doing their all to pick up points at the opposite end of the table. This was highlighted by the fact that, with just two games to play, any team could finish top, and every side was two defeats away from relegation!
For Hurst, a 1-0 win away at Peacehaven on the final day secured safety and Intermediate football for a third successive season. Danny Beattie scored the crucial goal early on, but was then dismissed for a tackle deemed to have been made with ‘excessive force’. Despite playing the majority of the game with a man less, the Bluedogs held on for victory.
The Reserves also restarted with the threat of a relegation battle looming large, but five wins in their first six games saw the side rocket up the table and secure a comfortable mid-table position in Division 4 South. And whilst the young 3rd Team (primarily made up of youth team players from the village making their first foray into men’s football) didn’t manage to climb off of the bottom of the Division 5 South table, they did record their first win of the season with a 2-1 victory at home to Willingdon 3rd Team; eliminating the visitors from the title race in the process. Progress and deserved points for the players.
Everyone is relieved to wrap-up another difficult season, with optimism that 2021/22 will be a little more ‘normal’. The club hopes to regain the momentum on the pitch from the 2018/19 double-winning season, before COVID struck. Plans are already afoot to make the season memorable; Artemis Marketing have renewed their major club sponsorship and new kit and equipment is en route, whilst the Village Pizza Kitchen have agreed to supply the prize for the Player of the Month award; just a couple of the exciting developments taking place off the pitch.
Pre-season training begins mid-June, and the door is always open for new players, volunteers and supporters wanting to get involved with the village side. So, head to social media or contact hello@hurstpierpointfc.co.uk if you’d like to get in touch.