SUCCESS HEAPS PRIDE ON JAMIE

YOU could hardly blame By Andy Mitchell manager Jamie Heapy for savouring every second of Didcot Town's promotion having won the battle of and for his life

- Andy Mitchell

'Mr Didcot' played more than 850 games for the Rail waymen, winning the FA Vase and captaining the club to its first journey into Step 3 back in 2009.

Monday's 1-0 win at home to Ware in the Southern Division One Central playoff final, decided by Jamar Smith's first-half penalty, earned a return to that level for the south Oxfordshire outfit.

Quite the triumph for Heapy, establishing himself as Didcot's standard bearer in the dugout as well as on the pitch, but it was only possible after his biggest victory - kicking a rare form of cancer into remission.

Diagnosed with mantle cell lymphoma in 2021, Heapy underwent an arduous year of chemotherapy that kept him in hospital for months at a time, during which he considered vacating the Loop Meadow hotseat but the help of his trusted assistants made all the difference, making this season's success the sweetest imaginable.

"When you are sitting there it puts things in perspective," Heapy told The NLP. It was tough but you have two choices - what do you do, give up or fight? "I was in hospital for many months and Craig Adey and Paul Bedwell, my assistants, stepped up to look after things.