NEIL Hards will forget all about his aches and pains from Sunday's Flora London Marathon if Winchester City's long slog towards the Hampshire Premier League title comes to a glorious conclusion at Burnaby Road tonight.
City need victory against Portsmouth RN to make mathematically certain of the title, but their goal difference - a whopping plus 140 - is so superior over chasing Vosper Thornycroft that a draw will probably do.
Forty-year-old Hards didn't quite achieve the time he had been hoping for on the streets of London. His goal was to better the 4hrs 50mins he ran last spring, but the former goalkeeper was 20 minutes slower this time, finishing the 26 miles in 5 hrs 10 mins.
"I didn't plan on it being so warm," he admitted. "Although I always make sure I drink a lot, I lost 11lbs on the way round. It wasn't weight loss it was fluid loss."
In the eyes of his chosen charity, Help The Aged, Hards was very much a winner. His efforts raised a whopping £11,000 - and much of that was pledged from within the Winchester City ranks.
He acknowledged: "The club have been fantastic helping me raise a few quid for charity. The players and directors sponsored me and many of the fans did too. A lot of Winchester money went into this and I owe them thanks for their support.
"Although I didn't run as fast as I'd hoped, I enjoyed the experienced more this time. I paid more attention to the crowd and everything that was going on around me."
Winchester have endured quite a marathon themselves this season. On top of league games, they trekked through to the FA Vase quarter-finals, the Russell Cotes Cup semi-finals and still have two big dates to look forward to in the Southampton Senior and Hampshire TrophyMan League Cup finals.
Hards said: "By the time we get to the end of the season, we won't be far short of 70 games, which is a lot - especially when the players have got to work as well.
"It's been like a marathon and I don't want us to come this far down the line and falter at the final stages. But we've got five games left to get a point, so the odds are stacked in our favour.
"If we win the title, no one will have deserved it more than these lads. They've trained hard, worked hard and played probably more games than any of them have ever played in a season before.
"At the start of the campaign our priority was just to get out of this league, but having the Vase run and reaching two cup finals has been a big bonus. We're getting some nice-sized crowds now and have had a lot of media attention."
Hards has no added problems player-wise for tonight's game. Jason Ahmet is still out with a hamstring injury and former Bashley and Totton centre-back Dave Goss is due to have a knee operation on Saturday.
Hards said: "Dave's got a split in his knee cap which needs patching together. He's getting it done now so that he's fit for the start of next season."
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