MARK Molesley says ‘there is no greater feeling than winning’ after his side beat Kettering Town 5-3 in a penalty shoot out to be crowned Evo-Stik Southern League champions.
It sees the Terras end the season with two trophies in just over a week, with victory over the Evo-Stik Southern Premier Central champions.
Molesley also criticised the quality of Kettering’s pitch, although the Terras will not face it in the league next season, with the Poppies having been promoted to the National League North.
Molesley said: “There is no greater feeling than winning, it is a great feeling and one we love so it is great to get a second trophy of the week.
“The boys battled really hard, in terrible conditions.”
Discussing the pitch at Latimer Park, Molesley said: “That pitch isn’t fit for purpose parking your car let alone playing a game of football, which was a shame because there were two talented teams out there.
“Kettering have got some very talented players and are a very good team and unfortunately the conditions stopped the game from being a game about football.”
However, Molesley was pleased that the conditions, which saw the pitch battered with wind and even hail at one point, showed a different side to his team.
Molesley said: “Tricky conditions but it shows, everyone says we are just a footballing side but we are not, we have got steel, we have got guts and we could not really play the football we wanted to play and we showed that we can handle any challenge that comes our way.
Kettering forced the Terras to defend for large swathes of the match, but Molesley says his side stayed true to themselves.
Molesley said: “A pitch like that is always going to make the way we play a little bit difficult and I thought we had to show a different side to us.
“We had to defend well, but I have to say in difficult conditions we were still true to ourselves, we still put some lovely moves together and done some good things.
“But ultimately it wasn’t going to be the most entertaining game for either team due to the conditions but the boys dealt with it really well.
“Their attitude was great, after last week’s heroics they could have been forgiven for being on the beach but they did not, they turned up and put in another great performance for the shirt and for the club.”
Molesley also praised the away support, who made the 183 mile journey from the Bob Lucas Stadium to Latimer Park.
Molesley said: “There was great away support, and they were rewarded by seeing them lift another trophy, so it was a great effort by the lads.
“Not only that, we were missing three key players, down the spine, Thommo (Ben Thomson) Jake McCarthy and Sam Sherring, three players who have been very influential for us this season.
“It shows the strength of the squad, and the togetherness and the belief that we have at the moment.”
