‘All I care about is winning’

Bexhill United manager Marc Munday says he isn’t bothered what it looks like as long as his in-form team keeps winning.
Andy Atkin on the ball for Bexhill United during their 1-0 win at home to Little Common last weekend. Picture by Simon Newstead (SUS-141229-092807002)Andy Atkin on the ball for Bexhill United during their 1-0 win at home to Little Common last weekend. Picture by Simon Newstead (SUS-141229-092807002)
Andy Atkin on the ball for Bexhill United during their 1-0 win at home to Little Common last weekend. Picture by Simon Newstead (SUS-141229-092807002)

The Pirates go into the new year lying second in Macron Store Sussex County Football League Division Two having won all of their last four matches.

Bexhill’s latest victory was a 1-0 derby success at home to Little Common last weekend thanks to Kevin Barden’s early goal and a third clean sheet out of four.

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Munday said: “At this stage when we’re fighting for something, I’m not too fussed about how good we look. People might say we’re the worst team in the league, but if the worst team in the league’s in second place, we must be doing something right.

“We can look fantastic throughout the season and finish mid-table - well that’s not for me; that’s not what I’m all about. If we fall out of contention, maybe we will start playing a different style and adapting for the next season, but while we’re still in with a shout, I only care about winning and that’s what we’re doing.”

Unbeaten in their last 11 league games and with nine remaining, Bexhill have a real chance of clinching one of the three promotion places.

They are three points ahead of third-placed Wick & Barnham United and fourth-placed AFC Uckfield Town having played three more matches than the former and the same number as the latter.

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“It’s going to be hard,” continued Munday. “Every game’s hard, but we can find a way of winning. It might not be pretty from the sideline, but I’m not here to make it look pretty - I’m here to win games of football. We’ll play pretty football hopefully against the sides that are a bit lower down the table.”

Having remarkably played all bar one of their home league fixtures, Bexhill’s away form will obviously be key from here on in and they are the only team in the division still unbeaten on their travels.

Next up tomorrow (Saturday) is a trip to Saltdean United, who although third-from-bottom, have already beaten Bexhill twice this season. In fact, Saltdean were the last team to defeat Bexhill in the league having left The Polegrove with a 3-2 victory at the end of September.

“We’ve been pretty good away from home,” Munday added. “I like playing away from home and beating people so it doesn’t really bother us.

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“Saltdean are our bogey side really. They’re towards the bottom and we’ve not performed beforehand as well against the lower grade sides. It’s something we’ve got to take on and we’ve got to up our game against them. If we do, we should beat them comfortably. That one will be more about the performance. ”

Bexhill are likely to be without several players, including Jack Aston, Dan Cruikshank and Josh Elliott-Noye, because of a stag do, while Munday is battling to overcome the knee injury which forced him to miss the Little Common match.

Standings (played-points): 1 Worthing United 17-42, 2 BEXHILL UNITED 19-39, 3 Wick & Barnham United 16-36, 4 AFC Uckfield Town 19-36, 5 Mile Oak 16-28, 6 Oakwood 15-27, 7 LITTLE COMMON 19-26, 8 Haywards Heath Town 19-26, 9 Steyning Town 16-25, 10 Midhurst & Easebourne 17-22, 11 WESTFIELD 18-21, 12 Rustington 18-20, 13 Saltdean United 17-14, 14 Storrington 19-13, 15 Seaford Town 19-0.