TURBINES WILL FIRE UP AGAIN
BOSS Jimmy Dean admitted he had questioned whether Peterborough Sports would find a flying finish to a rollercoaster campaign that has one last white-knuckle ride to come.
Victory over Coalville Town in the Southern League Premier Division Central play-off final tomorrow (Monday, 3pm) would mark a historic fourth promotion in just five completed seasons.
Dean acknowledged a mid-season dip had left the Turbines – and him – in a spin as Banbury United scampered away with the title he had eyed from outset.
However, hitting the reset button at the end of February worked a treat with a 13-match unbeaten run yielding county cup glory, second place and progress past Alvechurch – a team that beat Sports twice during that bleak midwinter – in Tuesday’s play-off semi-final.
“We wanted to compete for the title a bit more than we did, I won’t hide from that,” said Dean.
“That is not where the budget is, more where we think the team is. We went off like a rocket early on, injuries and everything else knocked us back and we were decimated for a while.
“It was inevitable that the players who came back were not quite there right away and at one point it looked like we could fade and fall out of the play-offs. I never thought it would come to that.
Impossible
“The big thing for me was to make sure we had some momentum going into the play-offs.
“I didn’t want us to just get there, I want us to perform and feel like we have a chance.
“That is what we have worked towards over the past two months, now we are in the play-off final and those ambitions are right there again.
“It felt like it was impossible at times. I have only ever had one other period like that as a manager, we went to the bottom of the league at Step 4 but finished 12th.
“Remembering that really helped steady things for me, the staff and the players who were involved in that run, to look at things for what they were this season. The title race had gone but we were still second, third or fourth.
Positive vibes
“Credit has to go to everyone at the club, not just the players. The chairman was still putting positive vibes into me when I didn’t have many.
“We lost 2-1 at Lowestoft and it just felt horrible, not because we had lost there but it was how we lost.
“Injured players were not that close to being back and I was wondering how we would get it right.
“He made me feel positive and better again, he man-managed me really, so the credit has to be shared throughout the whole club for us getting into this position.”
Dean is happy to be facing the fiercest of opponents.
“It will be a true 50-50 game,” he added. “We finished with one point between us. Coalville have a great attacking side and it is good that the second and third teams have got here.
“In effect, whoever wins deserves to be seen as the second-best team. You cannot resent that too much. If a team knocks you out having been 15 points behind it would be harder to take.”