“DIVINE intervention” is needed if Preston Athletic are to overcome the odds and secure promotion.
The county side sit one point off top spot in East of Scotland Football League (EoSFL) First Division Conference B going into tomorrow's (Saturday’s) final round of fixtures but will need league leaders Oakley United and second-placed Glenrothes to slip up to have any chance of finishing top of the table.
Manager Jack Lynch told Courier Sport they would be “looking for the gods to bless us on Saturday” as they take on Lochgelly Albert at the Pennypit.
Table-toppers Oakley blew the chance to wrap up the title at the weekend as they lost out to Heriot-Watt University.
Meanwhile, Glenrothes moved up to second as they thrashed Easthouses Lily 10-0.
Now, it all comes down to Oakley at Edinburgh South, Glenrothes at Newburgh, and Preston against Lochgelly Albert.
Lynch said: “After the disappointment at Luncarty [Preston lost 2-1], I knew that we needed divine intervention to win the league.
“I said to the boys to forget it, we’re not going to win the league.
“We just need to win our last two games and we played Easthouses and were in control of the game.
“We won 3-0 but we should have won 10-0 – we had that many chances.
“Some of the sitters we missed were unbelievable.
“Glenrothes then went and took 10 off them and put their goal difference well beyond ours.”
For much of the season, the title was in Preston’s own hands as they had a number of games in hand over their rivals.
However, five consecutive away games – including against title rivals Glenrothes – in April and May proved crucial.
The Prestonpans side took just seven points from a possible 15 and saw their advantage whittled away – and now rely on the other teams to falter.
It could even come down to goal difference in the battle for promotion.
In 2019, Preston missed out on promotion to the new EoSFL Premier Division on goal difference as they finished tied with Blackburn United on 32 points.
Lynch felt history could repeat itself and described the potential of missing out on promotion once again as “devastating”.
He said: “I’m really devastated we could not see it over the line for the players, for the committee and for everybody associated with the club.
“We have been getting great crowds this season and I am devastated but really proud of how the boys have actually played this season.
“We have had some great adventures, in the Scottish Cup we beat some really good teams and we had a great game against Auchinleck Talbot.
“We should have won the game, despite playing 70 minutes with 10 men.
“There have been some real, real highs this season, just unfortunately the lows have come when it really mattered at the business end of the season.”
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