Yoker Athletic manager Dominic O’Donnell was pleased to prove the doubters wrong as his young side sealed promotion back to the Second Division at the first time of asking.
The Whe Ho guaranteed their return last weekend, which was followed up with a 4-3 victory against Finnart on Saturday to round off their home campaign for the season.
The Holm Park side had to do it the hard way at the weekend as they found themselves 3-1 down before fighting back to win a seven-goal thriller.
O’Donnell hailed his dressing room for the way they have grown over the year and insists they should be proud of themselves.
Speaking to the Post, he said: "We lost a few poor goals to find ourselves behind, but we came back well and scored at good times.
"We should have won the game more comfortably had we been more clinical.
"For the first season with such a young team, the goal was promotion, and we’ve managed to do that, so we’re looking forward to going again next season and adding to the squad with some experience.
"We want to be competitive again and try and get in the top three and get promotion again, which I think we can do with the right additions.
"We were told it wasn’t going to work for us this season with such a young squad, but I knew the boys could all rise to the level, and they’ve proved everyone wrong, and I knew they could do it with a bit of man management and looking after them.
"It’s been my first full season in management at this level, and I couldn’t have done it with a better group of boys.
"We’ve done fantastic to finish in the top five.
"The boys don’t see it as much of an achievement because we finished fifth and not top, but they should be proud of themselves."
Yoker round off their season with a trip to bottom club Glasgow Perthshire this weekend, knowing that a top-four finish is still on the cards.
The Holm Park side would need to do their bit and hope for Glasgow University to slip up, but O’Donnell isn’t taking his side's job for granted.
He said: "We beat Perthshire 6-1 earlier this season, but that doesn’t tell the full story because it was a hard game.
"We want to end the season with another win, and we know there’s still a chance we can finish in the top four, which needs to be the target for the guys."
Kick-off at Keppoch Park on Saturday is 2:00 pm.
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