RUGBY Borough have been crowned champions of the Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division.
Borough piled on the goals to beat Hathern Town 5-0 last midweek before winning 5-3 against Sileby Town this past weekend.
And those victories coupled with Allexton and New Parks draw against Desford confirmed Borough as league champions with three matches left to play.
Borough will now move up to Step 6 of the Non League pyramid for the 2022-23 season.
Manager Dan Carter said: “I want to say a massive well done to the lads for getting the job done, especially over the last few weeks where the squad has been tested with several regulars missing through injury.
“They have worked hard all season and credit to them for sticking at it. They have made my job so easy at times and we’ve got our reward!
“The table doesn’t lie, and it’s fully deserved, which is a big statement when I personally feel they haven’t played well for a majority of the campaign.
“There’s still a few gears they can go up, but now is not the time to rest.
“We’ll start to build for step six football, but I don’t feel I need to change much as I have 80% of the lads I had at Long Buckby when we got promoted from step six to the UCL Premier, so we are confident of going for it again next season.
“Thank you also to Brian Crinigan, Steve Turner and Brian Dainty for their continued support and all the work they do behind the scenes, which helps us massively. It doesn’t go unnoticed.”
Rugby put Hathern to the sword at Kilsby Lane with Charlie Whiteside scoring twice and further goals from Brad Harris, Connor Gamble and Ryan Palmer.
And despite missing several key players against Sileby, Borough eased into a two-goal lead thanks to a brace from Dale Linton.
Borough added to their tally with goals from Ash Piper, Palmer and Tom Bishop to win an eight-goal thriller and endured a half an hour wait before news filtered through of Allexton’s result which secured the title.
A promotion party is being held at Borough’s final home game of the season against Blaby and Whetstone Athletic on Saturday, April 16 with kick-off at 3pm at Kilsby Lane.
Gates open at midday and close at 6pm with the trophy presentation set to take place after the final whistle.
