Finsbury Park coach Chapman wants to finish season strongly
Finsbury Park in action against Finchley (Pic: Remy Magnenat) - Credit: Archant
Finsbury Park head coach Gareth Chapman says they can’t rest on their laurels and must keep chasing the London Three North West front-runners in the final stretch of the season.
The Downhills Park outfit currently sit in fifth place but are 23 points adrift of unbeaten leaders Old Streetonians.
They now head into a home clash with basement club Royston on Saturday and, although they're almost out of the promotion race, the coach says they must continue winning to take momentum into next season.
"There is no point us resting on our laurels, we have to make sure we get as high up the table as possible this year," said Chapman.
"At the same time we want to make sure we're playing to the best our ability to take that into next season. We're always look to improve in the next game and that also leads onto next season as well.
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"We're trying some new things now and hopefully we'll see some new faces in the team as we keep picking up new players, which is a positive.
"We need to continue putting those building blocks in place so we finish strong and prepare well for next season."
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Former Park player Chapman knows it will be a tough encounter as Royston will be desperately hunting points as they look to avoid relegation.
"They're fighting to stay in the league, the fact is a lot of teams around them are doing the same thing, so they can't rely on anybody else," he added.
"We know it's going to be a hard game and there are no easy games in this league, that is one of the things that we've enjoyed, as we've got to be on our toes and ready for the challenge ahead."
Park head into the clash on the back of completing the double over Hitchin with a 19-7 away win last weekend.
"It felt like a big game and a bit of a derby match because we've played them quite a few times in recent years," added Chapman.
"It shows us a bit of progression, the fact we've been able to get the two wins over them this year, which we couldn't do last year and it just helps solidify where we are in the league.
"It was a really solid team performance. We were down, but come back and used the weather well."