SLOUGH Town star Manny Williams was left speechless by the amount of support shown after one of his students, Sam Hanson, lost his brave battle with leukemia, writes Rob Stevens.

Williams

described Hanson as an ‘amazing character’ who was loved by everyone that came across him.

Players from Slough Town and Reading Under 23s wore t-shirts in his memory on the day of the

Berks & Bucks Senior Cup final

, and Williams explained the Rebels wanted to win the trophy for him.

Williams told the Observer: “Looking at the way the season panned out, we probably deserved to be in the play-offs towards the last five or six weeks of the season but didn’t make it.

“As a squad, we wanted to get something out of the season, so we were really geared up for the Senior Cup final and our performance deserved the win.

“To be honest, we thought Reading would really come at us in the second half. We knew we needed to up our performance and we stopped them from playing, and the third goal killed them off.

“The Easter period was very, very tough and not one of the best of times for me personally and for my school.

“One of my students, Sam Hanson, sadly passed away due to leukemia.

“The boys and myself really wanted to win for him and the club has done an amazing job in supporting the cause.

“I would like to thank everyone involved for helping to make it happen. I’m speechless about the amount of support they’ve shown.”

“Sam was an amazing character. A happy boy and very loved by everyone that came across him. He was kind and very funny as well. He was very selfless and put everyone before himself.

“Sam was a great architect and would build anything out of Lego, he had a passion for that.

“We’ve just got to continue to remember the positive times really.

“I don’t need much inspiration when I out there. I’m fortunate enough to play at my age, but you need that extra push as well and I got that in the final.”

Williams continued: “For the first season back at this level it has been a tremendous achievement for the club.

“We were very gutted not to make the play-offs. We felt a little bit defeated after the Truro City game, but we knew we had one more chance to get something out of the season.

“Fortunately for us we dug in and it was a great performance from everyone really and we deserved it.

“I will probably take a week off but am continuously training over the summer because, being at my age, I have to do double the work of the youngsters to get myself in shape.

“I’m going to continue to work hard to get myself in the best shape for myself and the club, and hopefully push on next season.”