Flackwell Heath's hopes of narrowing gap thwarted by the weather

Chris Ayres. Photo: Glenn Alcock

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Flackwell Heath’s hopes of narrowing the gap to leaders Rayners Lane were thwarted by another postponement on Saturday, however, boss Chris Ayres is content with his side’s form as they head into what could be a defining month or two in the title race.

With the leaders not in action this weekend, Ayres had hoped his side might narrow the gap at the top to just two points when they travelled to 18th placed Hilltop on Saturday, however, the pitch failed to pass its pre-game inspection and the Heathens were left kicking their heels once again.

Ayres has already spoken of his frustration with the number of postponements in the Combined Counties Premier Division North this season and has suggested more matches are played earlier and later in the campaign when there's less of a chance of matches being called off for waterlogged or frozen pitches.

The manager will hope his side's momentum hasn't been checked after they swept aside Ardley United on December 23 with consummate ease. Jethro Odumosu and Michael Harding both grabbed a brace as Flackwell gifted their fans an early Christmas present at Wilks Park.

With Storm Henk currently sweeping across the country, there is a good chance Saturday's home match with Risborough Rangers will also be threatened, however, Ayres has spoken with the chairman and is hopeful the worst of the weather will have passed before the weekend.

Speaking on Tuesday, he said: “We were disappointed not to play, but it’s a sign of the times with the weather we’ve been having. We trained on the Wednesday and then it was called off on the Saturday. We’re disappointed because it was a chance to gain three points on Rayners Lane who weren’t scheduled to play on Saturday.

“It is what it is and we’re getting used to it now I think.”

He added: “I’ve spoken with the chairman today about Saturday and the weather is looking better for the end of the week. The club will do their best to get it on because it brings in good revenue. When weekend games are called off the club misses out on that money so it’s really important that we do get it on. It will be a tough encounter because they’ve picked up form recently and our games against them have normally been quite feisty. I’m sure Saturday will be no different.”

Despite the stop-start nature of their season, and their frustration at being unable to claw back points on Rayners Lane, Flackwell are well in touch with the leaders and may even be slight favourites to take this year's title. Over the next month or so, the two runaway sides at the top will play each other twice in the league, while Flackwell also face challenging fixtures against third placed Virginia Water - who they currently lead by 10 points - and improving Burnham at the 1878 Stadium. All those promise to be intriguing affairs and could determine the destination of the title this season.

“This next month or so will define where we end up potentially,” he said. “If we can come out on top in those fixtures, then we can start to think about that top place. But if the results don’t fall our way, we’d have to potentially look at the play-offs. But there is still a long way to go. I don’t know if this period will completely define it, but it will have a big say on it. Hopefully, we can go into this period with everyone fit and available and it’s looking like we’ll be pretty much back to a fully fit squad.

“When everyone is fit, we probably have one or two players too many. But I’d rather be in that situation than not have enough. We’ve got our development team as well which we’re lucky to have so we can always give players game time with the development squad. If we have everyone available, then we have a very good opportunity to do well.”