SLOUGH Town won promotion into National League South for the 2018/19 season after a 2-1 win against Kings Lynn Town in the Southern Premier Division play-off final on Bank Holiday Monday.

The Rebels finished third in the league table and reached the final after a 3-1 victory over Kettering Town in the semi-finals at Arbour Park.

Kings Lynn had home advantage for the all-or-nothing match having finished as runners-up to champions Hereford plus a 3-0 win against Weymouth in the semi-finals.

Slough failed to beat The Linnets in their two league meetings, losing 1-0 at The Walks back in March before a 2-2 draw at Arbour Park last month.

The home team started the better and, after a shot hit the crossbar inside the first six minutes, a goal from Toby Hilliard gave them the lead after 26 minutes.

The Rebels equalised a minute before the half-time interval as James Dobson crossed the ball into the box and striker Chris Flood out-jumped his marker to head home - his 24th goal of the season.

Slough were much the better side after the break but had to wait until the final minute of normal time for the all-important second goal.

Substitute Manny Williams, aged 37, dogged a challenged and fired home his 16th goal of the season.

Slough Observer:

PHOTO: Slough (amber) forward Manny Williams fires in the winning goal in the Southern Premier Division play-off final.

Slough joint-manager Jon Underwood explained that, although they were massive underdogs to win the final, they always believed they could do so, and to win promotion for club Chairman, Steve Easterbrook, was ‘pretty special’.

He told the Observer: “It has been a pretty crazy few days and the smile on my face will last for a long time. It was just a feeling of sheer joy.

“Everything had been building up to this day after in incredible run in through a tough schedule of games.

“The confidence and belief grew in the squad. We were the underdogs but we had real belief that we could do it.

“Days like this do not come around too often so to do it like this, against all the odds, is a great credit to the players who were brilliant.

“Ten months work rested on one game and there was big pressure on us, so to win this sort of match is a great feeling.

“We raced back to Arbour Park as quick as we could where the drink was flowing and it was a great feeling.

“The supporters on Monday were fantastic. They were out-numbered by Kings Lynn fans but got behind us and made some noise.

Slough Observer:

PHOTO: Manny Williams in his now-famous trilby hat celebration after the full-time whistle.

“Our supporters were singing and celebrating with us on the pitch afterwards and that was pretty special.

“The Chairman was on the pitch jumping up and down, so to win promotion for him is pretty special as well.”

Looking back on the match, Underwood said: “It was a difficult game, as we expected, on a hot day with a bumpy pitch.

“We struggled a little bit in the first 20 minutes when Kings Lynn caused us problems and hit the bar.

“We had settled down and started to get a foothold in the game when they scored. It was disappointing from our point of view that we found ourselves behind.

“I would have been happy to get in a half-time a goal behind, re-group and get going again. We were a little bit concerned but the players dug in and hung on as we always do.

“We got a goal just before half-time thanks to a great header from Chris. I’m really pleased that we scored because it took us a while to settle down.

“Kings Lynn were on a high when they scored but after we equalised they realised all their hard work in the first-half had come to nothing.

Slough Observer:

PHOTO: Slough Town celebrate with the play-off trophy on Bank Holiday Monday.

“The second-half went well and we dealt with what they had very well.

“As the second-half went on, we were the only ones that looked like creating chances and might get the winner. They seemed to run out of legs but we got stronger and stronger.

“I feel a bit of fitness and freshness told and we looked to have more about us. I would like to think that had the match gone into extra time we would have gone on to win it.

“Perry Coles caused them problems but was probably a foul away from a second booking and we didn’t want to run the risk of that happening.

“We bought on Manny with all his experience and it was a great finish for the winner.

“The last few minutes were nervous but we dealt with the balls into our box so saw it out relatively comfortably. The scoreline was fair and on the day we deserved it.”

Grab a copy of the Observer today for more match pictures and reaction to the Southern Premier Division play-off win.