Johnstone Burgh boss Jamie McKim is urging his players to savour one of football’s most satisfying moments after dramatically clinching promotion in style.
The Keanie Park side saved their best performance of the season for their most important match to sensationally send six past Muirkirk, jumping up to third spot in Conference A in the process.
The significant win sparked incredible celebratory scenes, with hundreds of supporters rushing onto the pitch to celebrate with the ecstatic Burgh players and management team.
Their incredible league finish has earned them a place in the second tier of the West of Scotland Football League next season.
And McKim paid tribute to his squad for a nerveless final performance in a pressure match when their entire campaign’s work was on the line.
McKim told Express Sport: “That was our best performance of the season by far,
“They gave us a wee fright scoring first, which definitely added to the day because you could see they were well up for it.
“In the end we blew them away though. I’m so proud of every single player because to produce that performance under that pressure was incredible.
“You don’t get many days like that in football.
“The amount of work everyone has put in is unbelievable so I told the players to enjoy it and savour it.
“It could have gone the other way if we’d lost, so you have to enjoy it and make the most of the celebrations.
“People have written us off left, right and centre this season but we proved we deserved to go up.
“To jump up to third was special and for me it was the minimum we deserved for the efforts we put in and the run we’ve been on.”
While the players are still celebrating earning promotion, McKim is already beginning to plan for life in the second tier next season.
Even so, he’s still allowing himself to revel in the success and thanked the club’s supporters who turned out in great numbers at Keanie Park to turn a significant afternoon into a truly special one.
McKim said: “It’s been around 15 years since we’ve got to this level, so it’s a special moment for everyone involved with the club.
“It’s no secret that the club was pretty much on its knees when me and the management team came in.
“To know we had more than 600 supporters there on Saturday to celebrate us getting back to the second tier was incredible.
“Everyone is coming together at the club and working so hard and the result was just such a fitting way to end the season.
“The young boys we’ve got in the crowd now made the atmosphere brilliant as well.
“They were singing the boys onto the pitch at the start and then rushed the pitch at full-time as well.
“We’re building something special here now, with young supporters coming through to support the club and that is what’s most satisfying.
“The players deserve an unbelievable amount of credit because they helped us sign off the season in perfect style.
“The future looks very bright for the club right now.”
