Broadbridge Heath have '˜strongest group' so far and future Ryman League aspirations

The club is going places both on and off the pitch as they climbed up to fifth in the Premier Division on Saturday.

It’s no secret that they are also working hard with Horsham District Council to secure a new home away from the Leisure Centre.

Overall the future looks bright and Painter, while still targeting a top-six finish this year, has high hopes of the upcoming years.

He said: “We are on target to finish where we are aiming to finish and I am hoping that’s the top six.

“We do have aspirations of the Ryman League in years to come, that’s as a club and me as a manager. The new ground is coming through and it’s exciting times at Broadbridge Heath.

“You can see from the outside looking in that there is a real buzz around us at the moment.”

Goals from Ollie Moore (two), Dean Wright and Jamie Robinson gave Heath a comfortable win over Hailsham on Saturday.

Painter, while pleased with the result, felt his side could have put the basement boys to the sword in the second half.

He said: “We took our foot off the accelerator a little bit in the second half which was a little disappointing. I was pleased with the result and performance.

“It does show there is a lot left in this group of players. This is the strongest group I have had in my time at the club.”

After spurning early chances Heath took the lead on 15 minutes as a fine move between Marlon Maxwell, Moore and Tiago Andrade ended with Moore drilling the ball into the bottom corner from 15 yards.

Heath continued to dominate with Andrade hitting the wall with a free-kick and Wright heading over.

The second goal was not long in coming as Andrade wriggled through the defence and pulled the ball back for Moore to volley home from 12 yards.

Scott Weller sent a shot just wide which proved to be his last contribution as he was forced off with an injury and replaced by Shaun Findlay.

After coming close twice from around the six-yard box, Wright decided to try his luck from further out and smashed an unstoppable 30-yard effort into the top corner.

Michael Chester was then forced into his first save of the match, blocking an angled drive with his feet, while at the other end, Andrade was denied twice, once with an overhead effort, and Wright hit the post.

The second half never really took off, with Heath playing some good stuff in patches but never really going for the jugular. In the last minute, Chester was forced into action to block a close-range effort and then Robinson latched on to Holmes’ through ball to find the bottom corner and complete the scoring.

Heath: Chester, Godfrey, Howard, Maxwell, Robinson, Weller, McDermott, Moore, Andrade, Wright, Holmes. Subs: Findlay, Hunter, Holvey.

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