Buzzing Burgess Hill Town: Mansell hails great day for team – and club
Gary Mansell hailed a great day for the whole club – as well as the team – as Burgess Hill Town beat Wingate & Finchley in front of nearly 1,500 fans.
Hill bosses ran a ‘Fill The Hill’ day offering free entry to the match to everyone to mark the opening of their new fan zone – the latest element of upgrades to the ground which have proved popular.
There was live music, new food outlets and more – and then Mansell and Jay Lovett’s team did their bit with a 3-2 which breathed new life into their bid to reach the Isthmian Premier Division play-offs.
It followed two straight defeats and puts them in good heart for week on the road in which they will face Canvey on Saturday and Wingate – again – next Tuesday.
Mansell told us: “It was a really good day – a nice initiative by the owners to let everyone in for free.
“There was a great buzz about the place pre-match as everyone enjoyed the fanzone, and I think that transferred to the team when they got out on the pitch."
Goals by Bobby Price and Kaan Bennett had Hill 2-1 up at the break and a third from George Vorster was needed – for W&F got a second of their own in stoppage time. The points left Hill ninth but only five points off the play-off zone.
Mansell said: “It was quite an even game, both sides had good spells and chances. We were not at our best but I felt we did enough to deserve the win.
“We’re in a comfortable position in the table but we don’t want the season to peter out. It’s such a close league and having got ourselves into this position, we want to keep the excitement going for the fans.”
Hill’s next three games are against sides currently in the bottom six – but after that they face Ramsgate, Chatham, Billericay and Brentwood, all four of whom are in the top eight.
Mansell said the squad were in good heart ahead of what would clearly be a testing few weeks.
Long-term knee injury victim Jay Beckford made his Hill return last Saturday but came off after feeling his hamstring. Mansell said it was not thought to be a serious setback.
And loan keeper Michael Dike is impressing in goal with Roco Rees still a couple of weeks away from getting over a quad injury.