Prescot Cables earned promotion to the Northern Premier Division thanks to a 2-0 win over City of Liverpool.
Alex McNally broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time before striker John Murphy extended his tally in the Northern Premier League West.
Both sides failed to assert their authority during the cagey opening exchanges of the playoff final.
However, the tie was turned on its head after 37 minutes when City of Liverpool’s Max Allen was shown a straight red card.
The midfielder lunged into a challenge on McNally, in front of the home bench, and the referee didn’t hesitate to send him for an early bath.
And in first-half stoppage time, Cables made their man advantage count, breaking the deadlock. The full-back rose highest at the back post to power a header home.
City of Liverpool made a strong start to the second-half and Paul McNally made two changes as they looked for an avenue back into the game. However, it was soon two for the hosts after excellent work down the left from Kyle Sambor. The Cables winger put a cross on a plate for Murphy, who powered his 24th goal of the season home from close range.
The two-goal cushion was enough for Cables as they secured their place in next season’s Northern Premier League Premier Division for the first time since 2008/09.
‘Credit goes to the team’
Prescot Cables manager Ste Daley said speaking to Off The Park: “I’m a little bit speechless if I’m being honest. That was unbelievable, the scenes at the end there, you could see what it means to the fans.
“City of Liverpool were fantastic today, the way the fans conducted themselves, they came out like a steam train in the last 10 games from out of nowhere. Paul has got them playing good football, they’re a good team and it went our way but if they stick together, they will come again. Credit to them and what they’ve done.”
The initial appointment of Daley from assistant manager to head coach raised eyebrows despite the tactician’s glittering CV from his time with Page Celtic.
Their promotion came earlier than expected but for Daley, success was never in any doubt. He added: “I’m certainly not surprised, I know what I can do, I’ve had opportunities to come to this level before but turned it down because I had my own team.
“I was successful with Page Celtic and now I’m successful here, I didn’t expect it to happen so quick as what it was but we’re here and we’ve done it.
“I’ve been humbled by some of the comments from our lads, there’s some special lads in there – unbelievable. The credit needs to go to the team, an unbelievable bunch of players, credit to them and it’s a privilege to manage them. There’s hard work ahead of us.
“The lads have been fantastic. (John) Murphy does what he does, Kyle (Samborr) stepped up, Jack (Goodwin) was a threat and Tony’s (Donaldson) workrate but we can forget four clean sheets in the last four games, that’s what you build on then we’ve got players that can win the game. The midfield bossed it today, James Foley picked everything up, Jay Devine he was there for everything, I can’t fault the lads they were unbelievable.
“You seen how much the fans and players wanted it, to be honest I was calm and relaxed. I was talking to Trunds (Lee Trundle) yesterday and when I was speaking to him about it, he said it’s because we’ve done all the hard work and know what we’re doing, we hadn’t left a stone unturned and we got our just rewards.”
[Featured Image: John Middleton – Prescot Cables]
