Ward keen for Sleaford to progress after top five finish

​Ward’s men finished fifth in the UCL Premier North, just five points outside the inter-step play-off place which was claimed by Quorn and who subsequently got promoted last weekend.

Sleaford then fell to defeat in the UCL League Cup semi-final against league champions Anstey Nomads last Wednesday, leaving a tired Ward reflecting on a campaign that saw a brutal run of eight games during April to round things off as they pushed for promotion.

He said: “I know I’m physically drained. It has been a lot of football in a short period of time and it’s the same for all those boys, even the younger ones. We’ve asked a lot of our bodies, of us psychologically as well, and there has been a lot of pressure on us.

"But we’ve still made massive steps forward, bottom of the league when we joined last season and now we’re breathing down the neck of promotion, so we’ve got to be proud of how far we’ve come, but we still want more.”

Ward’s eyes are now on next season and what he hopes will be another special campaign for the Greens.

He added: “Next season we’ll be closer. We’ve already had conversations with a few about recruitment and trying to make that little bit of a difference so we can push on that little bit further. Hopefully big things are coming next season.”

As for the cup semi-final defeat, 3-1 at home to Anstey, Ward was disappointed not to have reached the final and a chance of silverware.

He said: “It’s been a very frustrating end to the season for a side that has worked so hard to give us a semi-final opportunity and a promotion opportunity - but only to fall short on both.

“I think if we take our two or three good chances in the first half we are obviously flying - only to then concede in first half stoppage time and I think that changes the game. We huffed and puffed second half, there wasn’t much in it, but ultimately we didn’t do enough to win the game.”