Spalding United came within three minutes of promotion before suffering play-off heartache on Saturday.
They were arguably the better side in the opening 90 minutes against Halesowen with captain Nathan Stainfield heading in a 37th minute corner in front of a crowd of 3,250.
But in injury time keeper Michael Duggan failed to hang on to a shot and Kieran Donnelly poked in an equaliser.
And Jamie Insall’s 112th minute strike to make to 2-1 meant it was the West Midlands side who were promoted from the Pitching In Northern Premier Midlands Division and not the Tulips.
It was incredibly harsh on the Tulips after their best season in years.
“The lads were brilliant,” said interim manager Elliot Sandy who oversaw the run in to the season. “We had a game plan and it worked to a tee.
“We just couldn’t quite get that second goal despite always creating chances.
“An error in the last minute then made it 1-1.
“In the second half Halesowen were bringing on lads who have played a lot higher, some who’ve featured in the National League, and that’s something we didn’t have unfortunately.
“But all in all I’m really proud of everyone at the club.
“We should be proud of what we’ve achieved this season but it should also be a building block to go again next year.
“Myself and all the players want to now target promotion next season.
We’ll enjoy the break but for everyone at the club the hard work to put a team together to get promotion next season starts now.”
Sandy said he had a meeting scheduled with the Tulips top brass this week and was keen to continue as manager going forward though a statement by chairman Andrew Killingsworth said the club would back ‘the manager’ next season rather than naming the play-manager.
“It’s been there for everyone to see that the players have been playing for me, we’ve been playing good football and scoring goals.
“We’ve had some great results in what was a difficult run in against sides all around us and ended up just three minutes from promotion.
“I feel strongly about my attributes and I’ve spoken to a lot of the players who say they definitely want to stay and play for me next season and look to win promotion. That was really nice to hear.”
Killingsworth thanked everyone involved in his statement.
“I’m told by everyone involved at our club that we’ve had a good season,” he said. “Finishing third in the league, reaching the Lincs Cup final and competing in a Play-off Final.
“It’s progress, we’ve taken steps in the right direction, but we failed the objective I and my board set out for at the start of the season, promotion.
“We had a very good first half under Brett’s management, we were unbeaten up to the new year, and we went top of the league in January.
“However, the wheels started falling off, we were dropping points and we felt we needed to change something to be in with a chance of promotion.
“Elliot came in at a very difficult time for recruiting new players in the few vital positions we needed, but we did get things going again, and reached the play-off finals.
“Unfortunately we fell at the very last hurdle. After being bashed for the first 15 minutes, we then controlled the game, and in my opinion, deserved to win. But we didn’t.
“So, I am, with my board more determined than ever, that this coming season we will achieve our goal of promotion to step three.
“I have never said no to any manager whilst I’ve been at the club, and again, we will be pushing the manager to be retaining and attracting the very best players we can, to achieve our goals.
“We all know the problems of the past season, we couldn’t score enough goals! The style of play was not attractive and this needs immediate attention.
“We will invest in the pitch in the closed season, trying our best to get a flat playing surface.
“We will get some undercover standing around all sides of the ground, and continually improve the hospitality and bar areas.
“We also remain hopeful that we can secure a longer lease in the near future, that will enable the club to invest even more on the infrastructure, ground and facilities.”
Tulips: Duggan, Peters, Warburton, Barker, Stainfield, Cartwright, Broccoli, Draper, Clifton, Edge, Hilliard. Subs: Rolt, Jones, Sandy, Bucciero, Hgwa.
Attendance: 3,250
