Pulborough '˜reach the pinnacle' with title success and promotion

Having secured their promotion the previous week, they picked up the title the hard way as they missed out in their required bonus-point win against Lewes.

It was a nerve-wracking final day of the season as despite their 17-10 success, they had to rely on Haywards Heath also failing to get the bonus point.

That came to fruition and Pulborough were named league champions by just a solitary point.

There was great excitement around the club when the result from Haywards Heath came through, but Saunders knows the work required in stepping up a division.

He said: “We’ve reached the pinnacle, we’re just a little village club.

“We want to build a solid club, get the second team promoted so we have lots of player to call upon who are playing at a high level.

“Next year we are looking for survival. We need to work on the small percentages for next year, we’re not a huge side so fitness is something we really need to work on and we will really need to target our home games.”

With Pulborough 2nds finished second in the Sussex Division 2 (Canterbury Jack) promotion is a real possibility going forwards.

The first team meanwhile lost just three games all season and they have a pragmatic approach as they look to establish themselves in London 2 South East.

Club captain Simon Burfiend said: “We have a really good group of core players, most with more than five years of playing left and we’ve got some really good youngsters coming into the pack.

“I’ve been here five years and the goal was always to gain promotion.”

n Full story, report and picture special on page 83.