Spalding United boss Chris Rawlinson has urged his players not to waste what has been one of the most memorable seasons in the club’s history.
The Tulips missed out on promotion to the Evo-Stik League Northern Premier Division after losing in Saturday’s play-off final to Witton Albion.
Goals from Bradley Bauress and Anthony Gardner either side of a stunning strike from Leon Mettam condemned Spalding to a heart-breaking defeat in Cheshire.
And Rawlinson is now calling for his charges to stay together and launch another assault for honours in the Division One South next season.
He has already secured the services of Conor Higginson for next season and is hoping the rest of his squad follow suit.
Rawlinson said: “We have got ambitions as a club and I don’t want to waste what has been achieved this season.
“I want to keep the group together and see what develops next season and, if we can do that, then that would be brilliant.
“If players get the opportunity of moving onto a higher level then we’ll never stop them.
“We’ll pat them on the back, thank them for what they’ve done and wish them all the best.
“But I’d be disappointed and frustrated if players were to leave for clubs at the same level.”
Rawlinson wants his side to take inspiration from this season’s champions Shaw Lane following Saturday’s defeat.
The Spalding manager felt the 2-1 reversal was ‘one game too far’ for his spirited charges.
And, after seeing Shaw Lane bounce back from last season’s play-off final defeat to win the Division One South title this term, Rawlinson is calling for Spalding to repeat the feat next year.
He added: “Witton are good side, but I felt we were just a tiny bit short of being at our best which was disappointing.
“We did well in patches, but going to extra-time in the semi-final last Tuesday night probably took a little bit more out of us.
“Leon Mettam has scored our goal of the season by some distance to get us back level, but they’ve broken when we were attacking on our long throw and scored.
“It was our Achilles heel earlier in the season. I thought we had moved on from it, but this time it has caused us a problem again.
“It was a difficult day for us with our goalkeeper Michael Duggan being unable to kick properly, but he’s palmed away the header for their second goal and they’ve got a goal out of nothing so fair play to them.
“I am proud of what we have achieved this season but, come August, we’re still in the same division.
“Witton were a little bit better than us so it’s important we learn from that and came back stronger next year.
“Shaw Lane did it this year after losing in the play-off final last season and that’s got to be our target.
“We’re annoyed and disappointed to have lost. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but we need to go away, regroup and pull together and make sure we’re ready to go again next season.”
