Mangotsfield United manager, Glyn Ashton has insisted that his side will aim to maintain their intensity going into the final games of the season, despite already having guaranteed a playoff spot.
The Field host Lydney Town at Cossham Street on Saturday in their penultimate home game of the season, and Ashton made it clear that despite top spot now seemingly being out of reach, he still wants his team to finish as high as possible to give them the best chance of promotion through the Hellenic League Premier Division playoffs.
“I can’t see Hartpury slipping up enough to allow us to sneak in [to first place],” he conceded, “But we know that second and third place would mean a lot for the playoffs, so there’s still a lot to play for and we want to finish as high as we possibly can in the league.
“And ultimately if you know that you’re not going to win the league, you want to finish second and that’s the aim.
“We certainly won’t take our foot off the pedal because we’re already in the playoffs, we need to be going into them in good form and with every player giving their best.”
In the reverse fixture back in November, the Mangoes came out as five-nil winners over the Town, who currently sit 19th in the table, though despite the 48 points separating the two sides, Ashton admitted that he’s still not expecting an easy game.
“They’re fighting their lives, so they’ll be a tough team,” he stated, “I know that they’ve brought some players in over the last few weeks, and I think they’ve got a couple of players back from injury so I’m expecting it to be a tough game.
“Every team in this league are capable of springing a surprise, and if every player in their team works as hard as he possibly can, they’ve got a chance in every single game no matter who they’re playing against. So we have to match them for effort and with our threats hopefully we should be able to overcome them, but it’s not going to be easy at all.
“If we play as well as we know that we’re capable of, really we should win the game, but you never know. We’re looking forward to it though, it should be a good game, hopefully we’ll get a good crowd and get the three points, that’s the plan.“
As a result of the developments to their ground at the start of the season, the Field have played all of their league games since late November at home and have subsequently averaged crowds of 260 people – the highest attendance in the division, and the Mangotsfield manager was full of praise for the fans for their support this season.
Hellenic League Premier Div. highest average attendances this season:
— Non-League Data (@UKFDFC) February 24, 2025
1. @MangotsfieldUtd – 260
2. @CorshamTownFC – 158
3. @SCInkberrowFC – 156
4. @PTFC88 – 153
5. @Westfieldsfc1 – 149
“The home support is incredible. I’ve never managed a side up here with so many people coming to watch and the players feel it too.
“I guess it puts a bit more pressure on me and the coaching staff because we feel like we’ve got to pay the fans back in terms of good performances and delivering results, you don’t want them to go away disappointed, and you want them to come back the next week to watch you again.
“So we try to get the blend right between attacking football and being defensively strong, being attractive in possession as much as we can but also not taking unnecessary risks, and I think most people have been pretty happy with what they’ve seen so far.”
