SUCCESS will taste even sweeter for Danny Crump if the Grundisburgh goalkeeper ends this season clutching silverware.

A cruel twist of fate has conspired against Crump not once or twice but three times in the recent past to prevent him winning trophies – and could do so yet again this season.

Crump, who played rugby during his teenage years, joined Ridgeons League Premier Division outfit Felixstowe & Walton United when he was 19 and helped the club win the Suffolk Senior Reserves Cup before then manager Steve Potts handed him his first-team debut.

He held his place in the Seasiders’ side in the second half of the 2007/08 season and started the following campaign between the posts until he was replaced by Ben Nower following the appointment of Glenn Driver as Potts’ successor.

Crump then signed for Hadleigh United around Christmas 2008 and established himself as the club’s first-team keeper as Hadleigh won promotion to the Premier Division after a 12-year absence.

But it was towards the end of that season that Crump suffered his first setback when he was dropped from the team in favour of Luke Whitwell for the Ridgeons League KO Cup final, which Hadleigh lost 1-0 to Diss Town.

“Although Steve Jay, the manager, said he had his reasons it was the lowest point of my career,” he confessed.

Crump joined Kingsley Healthcare SIL Senior Division side Felixstowe United at the start of the 2009/10 season which ended with Crump and Felixstowe being denied the title, which went to Old Newton United instead, after having four points deducted for fielding an ineligible player.

“That was another low point,” reflected Crump, who has won a Sunday morning league and cup double with Kirton United.

After staying with Felixstowe United last season 23-year-old Crump joined his older brother Andy at reigning SIL champions Grundisburgh this season, only to see his ill luck strike again twice.

Grundisburgh were deducted six points for fielding an ineligible player in their 3-1 win against Leiston St Margarets in early September, which could prove crucial come the end of the campaign as they currently trail leaders Woodbridge Athletic by seven points.

And Crump was also in the SIL representative side which was kicked out of the FA Inter-League Cup for committing a similar offence earlier this season.

Crump said: “You do get upset at first and think ‘what have I got to do to achieve something in Saturday football?’ but I try to not let it affect me.”

Because work commitments mean he cannot commit to playing and training in midweek on a regular basis, Crump declined the chance to play for Felixstowe & Walton United again this season, although he is registered with the Seasiders and has played one match.

He said: “I am enjoying playing in the SIL at a great club with a lot of very good players. We are not going to give up on winning the league, but if we lose another game it will be difficult for us to claw it back.

“And we have got Stowmarket Town at home in the Suffolk Senior Cup quarter-finals early in the New Year, which we are looking forward to.”