Heacham boss brushes aside talk of title

David Griggs has played down the significance of Heacham regaining top spot in the First Division North table following their 2-0 victory at Whittlesey Athletic on Saturday.

Nathan Davies scored twice for Griggs’ side as close rivals Downham Town suffered a 3-2 defeat at AFC Sudbury Reserves.

The Magpies now find themselves a point clear at the top going into tonight’s home clash against Holbeach at the Heacham Sports Field.

Downham Town are also in action tonight when they travel to Parson Drove.

But despite promotion now being back in Heacham’s hands, Griggs said: “It’s nice to return to the top of the table but as I have said many times over the last month there will be plenty twists and turns ahead.

“With that in mind, we are purely focused on Holbeach on Tuesday night at home.”

Reflecting on Saturday’s latest win, Griggs added: “The lads were excellent on Saturday. Collectively as a team, they worked their socks off to limit Whittlesey to just one half chance.

“The squad was a lot stronger on Saturday with four lads returning so we had great options.

“The Heacham supporters came out and filled one of their stands which was great to see and we thank each and everyone of them for attending.” For Downham, it was an afternoon of frustration after having goalkeeper Duncan McAnally sent-off for handling outside his area.

Jake Miller donned the gloves following McAnally’s dismissal and, although Downham registered through Pat Yates and Matty Blackford, they were unable to bring home a point.

Joint boss Craig Dickson said: “It’s been a tough week for the club, not performance wise but results have not gone in our favour.

“On Saturday, the effort from the boys was outstanding. It was best summed up by travelling supporters who were proud of the boys regardless of the result.

“It’s always tough going down to 10 men against a young, well-drilled side like Sudbury.

“You have to dig in and play on the counter and we were still able to be a threat at times and could have nicked a point, even though for large spells Sudbury were on top.

“Losing a goalkeeper and having an outfielder in goal made it more difficult but credit to Jake Miller for standing up and taking the gloves in a difficult situation.

“Like I’ve said, performance wise we are still in a good position and it’s now about finding that winning formula again and seeing where we end up

“We still have a lot to fight for and have to keep some element of pressure on Heacham as there’s still a long way to go.”

Swaffham Town continued their recent improvement with a 2-0 victory at Leiston Reserves. Nick Davey and Oli Williams were on target for the Pedlars, who also had two goals disallowed.

Pedlars boss Johnny Alflatt said: “It was what I’d call an efficient away performance.

“We took the lead early and always looked in control of the game. However, I felt we had more in the tank at half-time I asked the players to go and kill the game.

“Oli Williams popped up with a brilliant header to put it to bed for us. He’s been immense the last few weeks.”