AFC Sudbury chalk up another victory over Felixstowe & Walton United in bid to be crowned Isthmian League North Division champions

One down, 12 to go – that is the approach Rick Andrews is adopting after watching his title-chasing AFC Sudbury players record a 2-1 win at Felixstowe & Walton United on Tuesday night.

The Yellows made the journey to Dellwood Avenue having slipped down to second in the Pitching In Isthmian League North Division standings following Hashtag United’s victory at Maldon & Tiptree 24 hours earlier.

But Andrews’ men regained top spot with victory in the all-Suffolk affair thanks to goals from Nnamdi Nwachuku and Sak Hassan.

And the Sudbury boss is expecting there to be plenty more ‘twists and turns’ throughout the run-in.

“I don’t think anyone that watched the 90 minutes at Felixstowe can begrudge us the win,” he said.

“In the first half we were brilliant, but we only went in 1-0 up and fair play to them they’ve come out in the second half on the front foot, got their goal and caused us problems.

“Our winner actually probably came against the run of play a little bit, but we battled hard after that and saw it out.

“We’re back top, which is great, but we’ve still got so many tough games remaining to think of any result as being definitive. There is going to be so many twists and turns between now and the end of the season.

“We can’t control any of the other results. If we win the next 12 then we’ll win the league, but then Hashtag will be saying exactly the same thing.

“It’s a testament to our side that Hashtag have won 15 in a row and they still aren’t top. It’s going to be a hell of a title race between us.”

Next up for Sudbury, who also won 2-1 at Tilbury on Saturday with goals from Hassan and Josh Stokes, is a home clash against play-off hopefuls Heybridge Swifts on Saturday (3pm).

And Andrews is anticipating another thorough examination of his team’s title credentials.

“They’ve lost one or two players recently, but they’ve signed the lad (Matt) Price and he’s a very good player,” added Andrews.

“They’re well drilled, they beat us at their place earlier in the season and they’re chasing the top five. It will be another very tough game.”

Sudbury will go into the clash against the Swifts with an in-form Hassan in their ranks.

The playmaker has scored in each of his last two appearances, taking his goal tally for the season to six.

“I’m so pleased for him,” said Andrews. “In training he can be mesmerising and he can make very good players look silly.

“Sometimes he has overdone it, tried to do too much in the middle of the pitch and we’ve been broken on. But we’ve been working with him on that, improving his decision making and when and when not to be brave on the ball.

“And he’s taken that all in and started to produce some end product. The competition we’ve added in his position has probably helped as well, but he’s so infectious and we’re delighted with how he is playing.”

Andrews is hopeful that Jake Turner (back) will be fit to return against Heybridge, while Romario Dunne has joined Step 5 side Brantham Athletic on dual registration as he continues to work his way back to full fitness after a serious knee injury.