Heath went into this game knowing that a win should be enough to see them lift the Southern Combination Football League Premier Division title for the very first time.

It’s so rare for the Bears to win anything that you have to go way back to 1978/79 to find the last trophy that Broadbridge Heath first team won when they lifted the West Sussex Football League trophy and were promoted to the Southern Counties Combination League which in 1983/84 became Division 3 of the SCFL. Since then the team have won promotions but not in first place and only got to one Cup Final which we lost.

So could this be the year, well the Bears almost had the perfect start to the match when Andy Waddingham played a cross field pass from right to left to Callum Chesworth who advanced into the penalty area and struck a left foot shot that beat the Midhurst keeper but rebounded off the foot of the post narrowly avoiding Mason Doughty bearing down on goal.

On 16 minutes Jamie Chesworth played a long diagonal pass from left to right to Doughty who struck it on the volley with his right boot but it flew straight to the Midhurst goalkeeper Josh Bird who gathered on the line at the second attempt. Heath continued to dominate possession and with 30 minutes played Alex Babary hit a right foot shot from distance that took a coat of paint off the post but it remained goal-less.

2 minutes later a rare Midhurst attack broke down in the Heath penalty area, the ball was cleared up to Callum Chesworth on the left flank who slipped it inside to Barbary who turned and picked out Doughty in acres of space on the right, he played an inch perfect pass to split the two defenders allowing Callum Chesworth to run through and hammer a left foot shot into the net, a great team goal and a well deserved 1-0 lead to take into the break.

Heath got straight back into their stride kicking down the slope in the second half and made it 2-0 minutes into the restart when Ryan Brackpool headed a goal kick wide to Doughty who strode down the right flank before before crossing to Callum Chesworth who unselfishly played the ball inside to Barbary to score from close range, 2-0 to the Bears.

A few minutes later the home side had a great chance to pull a goal back when a free kick was awarded to the hosts just outside the box but Liam Matthews made a good save to push the goal bound shot over the crossbar to safety.

Heath wrapped up the game with a great solo goal from Jack Frankland 10 minutes before the end, the Heath defender stole the ball from a Midhurst player just inside their half, then dribbled past a second player before hitting a right foot shot from 23 yards that dipped over the keeper into the net, a great strike and his second in two games.

So three points for the Bears giving them a +16 goal difference over second place Crawley Down Gatwick who are three points behind, a point on Saturday away at AFC Vardeanians will see Heath pick up their first trophy after 40 years playing in the SCFL, surely we can’t mess this up....... can we?

Team: Matthews, Frankland (Terry 80), Chesworth, Weller, Waddingham (Parmiter 54), Peters, Brackpool, Penfold, Barbary (Taylor 61), C. Chesworth (Evans 69), Doughty (Todd 74).