Leese: I'll stand by my players

7:31am Saturday 3rd May 2008

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CHESHAM suffered the cruellest of cruel blows last weekend, but they can't afford to slink away and lick their wounds.

Despite missing out on the play-offs on goal difference, Chesham can salvage something from their season when they take on Wycombe Wanderers Reserves in the Bucks Cup Final at The Meadow on Monday.

Manager Andy Leese said: "We've got to go on and win it to give ourselves a bit of silverware."

They will have home advantage though, after Wanderers asked to move the game away from Adams Park to protect their pitch ahead of the League Two play-offs, but lifting morale might still be as big a challenge as overcoming Blues after events last weekend.

Chesham beat Dunstable 1-0 to make it 12 points out of 12 in the final sprint, but minutes after the whistle Chesham players were slumped on the Creasey Park pitch contemplating failure after hearing that Rushall Olympic got the point they needed against champions Evesham.

Their 0-0 draw meant both teams finished on 76 points, but Chesham would have needed an eight-goal win to leapfrog their rivals.

Leese said: "After the start we had, we've found remarkable consistency in the second half of the season and I'm very, very proud of them.

"But we haven't proved to be one of the best five sides in the league. We find ourselves missing out on goal difference and that disappoints me."

But while Leese must now lead his team through another 40-match marathon next season he believes Chesham are on the verge of establishing themselves among the non-league elite again.

He said: "This is a proper non-league club with a great infrastructure. The chairman has turned it round and financially it's as stable as you like. I've stabilised it on the field and I think we have a fantastic group of players.

"I told the fans that the biggest plus for me this season, after what's gone on the last two or three years with 70-odd players a season, which I thought was fairly disgraceful, is that we've operated with about 23 players this year.

"If you're a supporter of Chesham you can turn up any Saturday, home or away, with a list of 20 players and have a bit of fun picking your 11."

And if Leese gets his way, it will be the same again next year.

He said: "I might want to freshen up in one or two areas, but we've brought some great characters to the club, there is fantastic spirit here and I'd love to keep them together. I don't see why we can't."

Meanwhile, in Division One South and West, Marlow finished in mid-table after beating Oxford 2-1 thanks to goals from Colin Simpson and Daniel Stone.