Rocks aim to extend Ryman title race

Bognor host Brentwood tonight knowing a fifth win in a row will take the Ryman premier title race to the final day of the season.
By The Newsroom
Published 19th Apr 2016, 09:41 BST
Updated 7th Jun 2018, 18:32 BST

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The Rocks celebrate a goal against Leatherhead - they will look for more home success tonight / Picture by Tim HaleThe Rocks celebrate a goal against Leatherhead - they will look for more home success tonight / Picture by Tim Hale
The Rocks celebrate a goal against Leatherhead - they will look for more home success tonight / Picture by Tim Hale

Jamie Howell’s team are six points behind leaders Hampton and Richmond with tonight’s game and Saturday’s home tussle with Hendon to come.

Hampton have only one game left - at home to play-off-chasing Enfield on Saturday - and their goal difference is six better than that of the Rocks, so the south-west London side remain firm favourites to take the silverware.

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Rocks boss Howell said the only focus for now was on winning tonight’s game, which would at least put his side in pole position to finish second.

They have no new injury worries ahead of the game, but centre-half Craig Robson is still out and having a scan today to see if an injury that has kept him out of action for nearly three weeks may clear for any remaining games.

Few changes to the line-up who won 2-0 at Leiston on Saturday are expected.

Howell said: “I was delighted with the win at Lesiton in difficult circumstances. The pitch was very wet and Leiston did well to get the game on.

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“The first half was quite tough though I thought we were the better team. In the second half we had a real go and scored twice early on.”

It was Bognor’s 25th clean sheet of the season and Howell said he could not speak highly enough of keeper Grant Smith and his defence, who had been solid all campaign.

“Sami El-Abd has made a masssive difference and even in the past couple of weeks when we have been without Craig, Chad Field has fitted into the defence seamlessly,” he said.

“We need to make sure we do a professional job tonight and we can worry about Saturday if we win this one.”

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