CONCORD Rangers under 15 side have been used to success on the pitch but now they are impressing off it as well.

The youngsters had qualified for a third county cup final in succession before the season was ended by the coronavirus pandemic.

But they have now turned their attentions elsewhere and raised close to £1,600 for the Southend Hospital charity after reaching a tough looking target set by their coaching team.

“We did a couple of tasks where people had to cycle 20k a week and then we thought about setting something that was a bit harder to achieve while also raising some money for charity at the same time,” said Concord boss Darron Polyblank.

“We set them the task of riding 1,000km in seven days but not all of them have bikes so some had to run.

“But they hit that target with a couple of days to go so then we changed it to 1,000 miles instead.”

And Concord’s youngsters dug deep to ensure they reached the revised target.

“We set them a target of 9pm on Saturday evening I think it was and a couple of them went back out on their bikes at 8pm that night to get the last 20 miles in,” said Polyblank.

“Quite a few of them did some big rides along the way and we raised close to £1,600 for the Southend Hospital charity which is great.”

However, Concord cannot wait to get back on the football pitch.

“We were in the county cup final again this season too and with games in hand we were in a good position to fight for a third league title as well,” said Polyblank.

“It was our third county cup final in a row which can’t have been done too many times before.

“It’s a big achievement and it’s been done despite losing some players to Southend and Colchester so it’s a really good group who always seem to find a way to win.”