JOHN Sussex insists his Basildon United players will not be thinking they are ‘already on their holidays’ despite sealing their Isthmian North safety at the weekend.

The Bees claimed a 2-1 win at Soham Town Rangers to make it mathematically impossible to suffer an immediate drop back into the Essex Senior League.

And Sussex was pleased to ensure survival and Basildon’s own terms.

“It was nice to guarantee safety and it was made even better as we did it ourselves and didn’t have to rely on results elsewhere,” said the Basildon chief, who took over at the Ho Ho Stadium last month.

“Soham is a really difficult place to go and they’re a really physical side.

“They had some really big, physical players, but we stood up to them and Rob Hodgson did a fantastic job as he won every header at the back.

“We played some nice, attractive football and it was good to officially get over the line.

“But we’re not thinking that we’re already on our holidays because we have three games left and we want to get as many points from those games as possible.”

While Callum Taylor continued his fine form with another goal at Soham, Kurt Smith grabbed his first goal for the club.

And Sussex was pleased to see Smith get off the mark.

“Kurt is a very experienced player and has been playing at and around this level for 15 years but had a lot of injuries,” added Sussex.

“Getting 80 minutes out of him was terrific and it made it even better that he scored.

“He took his goal really well and his experience is invaluable to the team because he is helping a lot of the younger players and is always talking on the pitch.”

There was controversy towards the end of the clash as Soham goalscorer Lloyd Groves appeared to kick out at grounded Bees goalkeeper Russell Harley while halving the deficit.

“We have reported that to Soham and asked them to look into it internally,” confirmed Sussex.

“We haven’t taken it to the FA, although we did contemplate that.

“It was clearly deliberate from their player, but Russell is fine.”