Pinchbeck United player/boss Ian Dunn reckons that steering his side to promotion would be great for the South Holland footballing scene.
The ChromaSport PDFL confirmed last week that Premier Division duo Netherton United and Pinchbeck have applied for promotion up to the United Counties League.
However, only one of them will be able to go up to Step Six of the non-league ladder, meaning the race for the title now carries an extra incentive for the top two.
Dunn accepts that plenty of work needs to be done at Knight Street to get the club in the position to achieve their goal.
But he would love to take The Knights up the non-league ladder, having returned to the club with that in mind.
“A bit of work needs to done,” said Dunn. “But, from what I hear, it isn’t something that would take too long.
“I’m not really in a position to say what we need to do, but getting promoted was the main reason for me coming back to the club two seasons ago. What we’ve tried to do is build a side that we feel is capable of competing in UCL Division One – and I think we have that now.
“It’d be great for football in the area too – we’d have another UCL club and some big games that would probably pull in bigger crowds than usual.
“We’ve also improved the club’s infrastructure and have a forward thinking committee. The club now generates money and we re-invest it wisely.
“Allan Ross is also one of, if not the best, coach around here. He’s improved us on the pitch and we’re a very settled side too.
“A lot of this team, myself included, have experience of playing higher and it feels like the next step for us.
“It would be a great challenge and the PDFL are really supportive of our aim.
“I think they’d be proud to see one of their oldest clubs get promoted.”
Leaders Netherton are three points ahead of second-placed Pinchbeck in the table, having played two games more.
Dunn admits he was disappointed to see them edge out South Holland rivals Moulton Harrox 4-3 on Saturday – even if his side did leapfrog the boys from Broad Lane in the table.
Netherton still have to visit Knight Street at some point in 2017.
