HYBRID SWITCH BOOSTS ROBBIE

PLAY-OFF pain lingered for Chelmsford City boss Robbie Simpson, but the club’s enhanced training plan has helped whet the appetite for another crack at promotion.

- John Lyons

The Clarets enjoyed a brilliant season in National League South, finishing second behind runaway champions Yeovil Town.

Hopes were high they could build on that achievement by winning the play-offs, but an agonising 3-2 home defeat after extra-time against Braintree Town in the semi-finals saw their season come to an abrupt end.

While the Iron, who finished fifth, went on to gain promotion to Non-League’s top flight, Simpson and Co. were left with that feeling of what might have been.

“It was incredibly gutting and knocked everyone for six, including me,” Simpson told The NLP. “It was similar to when we lost to St Albans in the playoffs last year, but this was even more of a draining feeling. We thought it was our year.

“When things are good you find the energy, but when it ends you hit a brick wall and feel exhausted.

“It took me a lot longer than I thought it would to get over and to feel like I had the energy to go again. I also needed the belief that we could do it again – and do it better.

“Now I’m certainly re-energised and each day I’m getting more and more excited for the first day of pre-season.”