By Ryan Walmsley
PEACEHAVEN completed a historic league and cup double last Sunday after a 3-0 success over Bognor Regis in the Sussex Senior Cup final – and manager Shaun Saunders says it will act as a warning to the Ryman Premier.
Victory in the final, the club’s maiden win in the competition, is the Magpies’ fourth trophy in the past two years, capping a remarkable season that has also seen them promoted to the Ryman Premier
Peacehaven romped to the Ryman South title with a mammoth 107 points, scoring 128 goals in the process, with their nearest competitor 18 points behind.
And Magpies boss Saunders was delighted with his team’s win over their Sussex rivals.
He told The NLP: “I’m absolutely buzzing, I feel like I’m walking on water. It’s an unbelievable achievement for our club after winning the cup for the first time in our history.
“The stats don’t lie, we won the league comfortably in the end despite our aim to being to just remain in the Ryman South. We got to Christmas and we thought we can do something a bit special here – and we did.”
This comprehensive Sussex Senior Cup final victory for the Magpies over Bognor, a team who only just missed out on promotion to the Skrill South in the play-offs, shows that Peacehaven are more than capable of competing in the Ryman Premier next season.
The 51-year-old, who has been in charge at Piddinghoe Avenue for the last three seasons, said: “It hasn’t heightened our expectations of the players, no. It shows that on our day that we’re good enough to compete with the sides in the Ryman Premier. We’ve got a really good squad here.
“Next season is all about consolidation and making sure we stay in the league. Beating Bognor on Sunday is a yardstick to see how far away we are from what we want to achieve and we know now that next season we’ll be tough be beat.”
