12:40pm Tuesday 5th May 2009
By Paul Green
IAN Jenkins has described Cray’s play-off final win on Saturday as the biggest achievement in his football career.
The Wands boss saw his side secure a place in the Ryman Premier League after Simon Osborn’s 79th minute winner sealed a 1-0 victory over Met Police.
It caps a memorable decade for Jenkins in the Cray hotseat with the manager leading the Wands up from the Kent League to the top flight of the Isthmian League, the highest level the club have played at in their 149-year history.
He said: “This is undoubtedly my biggest achievement as a player or manager.
“It is great for the club too with the new ground coming up and we have nothing to fear from the Ryman Premier League.
“We’ve played well against teams from that division in cup competitions over the last five years, so I can’t see any reason why we can’t do so on a weekly basis.”
But although confident of Cray’s chances next year, Jenkins fully accepts there will be some changes over the close season.
He explained: “I want to keep this squad together but I know there are a couple of players who are coming up for retirement.
“I will be trying to talk them out of it now.
“Hopefully there will be a few new faces coming in too with experience of playing at that level to compliment what we’ve already got.”
Jenkins praised Osborn for his decisive contribution on Saturday and also had some sporting words for Met Police.
He said: “Simon’s goal was world class and no keeper was ever going to save it.
“It was a great time to score with 11 minutes to go and I think we deserved it on the day.
“The reaction from the players and fans was brilliant afterwards, but I was more concerned about speaking to their manager and coaches afterwards.
“I’ve been in a similar situation last year when we lost a play-off final at Tooting and know exactly how it feels.
“You tend to get completely overlooked when you lose a game like that, so it was very important for me to go over straight away and shake all of their hands.
“I just took a step back to watch all of the celebrations because it was nice to see all of the players with their families joining in the party.”
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