Smith believes in survival

Tough tackling Hungerford Town midfielder George Smith is confident his side can pull off a great escape in the battle for National League South survival.

Smith has been one of the Crusaders standout players this term, impressing with a number of dynamic performances, but has been powerless to prevent Hungerford from slipping to the bottom of the league table.

However, hope has returned to Bulpit Lane. The Crusaders have picked up seven points from the last 15 available at home in their bid to claw themselves back into contention in the battle to avoid relegation.

Hungerford were 10 points adrift of safety at Christmas but their recent win against Dover has reduced that gap and Smith, who has been central to the Crusaders recent upturn in form, insists his side are full of belief.

“We’re massively full of hope,” he said.

“The whole place has had a lift, the belief has always been there but even in training and the group chat, you can tell we’ve had a couple of good results.”

The Crusaders appear to have benefited from the recent winter weather, digging in and making things difficult for the opposition. Jake Evans’ winning goal against Dover thundered in amidst a hailstorm.

“Dover was the most difficult conditions I’ve ever played in,” Smith said.

“It wasn’t great to play in, but I knew we’d win. As soon as we scored and it was torrential rain I turned to a couple of the lads and said ‘we’ve won this, we want it more than them.’”

Off the pitch, it’s been a turbulent couple of weeks at Bulpit Lane with the news that chairman Patrick Chambers and his wife and commercial manager Nicky would be moving to Gloucester City at the end of the season.

While Smith was full of praise for the outgoing couple, he admitted the playing squad haven’t been distracted by the news, instead remaining focused on the fight for survival.

He said: “We were upset and disappointed, but we’re at the club to play football and make the club better.

“We’re all at the club to better ourselves and improve Hungerford, Patrick and Nicky have done that and we as players want to do that, that’s what we’re focused on.”

Hungerford are the league’s joint lowest scorers, having scored 18 goals in 24 league games following the summer departures of top goalscorer Ryan Seager and creative outlet Sol Wanjau-Smith.

Nevertheless, the Crusaders have been competitive all season, losing just three league games by more than one goal and Smith is confident his side, buoyed by the recent arrival of prolific frontman Dan Roberts, can continue to turn those narrow defeats into draws and wins.

“It’s been massively frustrating because we know we can defend well, better than anyone else in this league,” he said.

“Sometimes we just haven’t looked like we can finish our dinner, we haven’t had a lot of luck.

“Dan Roberts has been a breath of fresh air because we know if he gets a good chance, he’s probably going to score.

“We knew Seags and Sol would be massive misses, we knew if we defended well they’d do the business up front.

"Of course we miss them but I’m pleased for both of them, we’re delighted to see them doing well.

“I think now we’ve got a goalscorer back in the team the improvement in results has been obvious, sometimes it’s just that one missing piece.”

If the Crusaders are to pull off the unlikeliest of escapes and the current crop of players are to write their names into the Hungerford Town history books, they’ll need to maintain their home form, keep scoring goals and perhaps find that little bit of luck that has thus far tended to elude them.

Smith, whose bullish determination and relentless running can continue to inspire the Crusaders, is confident this season could end as one to remember.

He said: "We've always believed we can do it, we're still in control of our fate.

"We're used to being written off, we've got to use that as fuel and treat every game as though it's a cup final.

"We're here to win football matches and if we can win half of the games we've got left, we should be alright."

Survival remains a realistic prospect for Hungerford Town – if Smith and the Crusaders do end up going down, it certainly won't be for a lack of blood, sweat and tears.