TURTON FC officials insist the job starts tomorrow in preparing for the big time in the West Lancashire Premier Division.

The Thomasson Fold side take on Atherton Collieries in the Hospital Cup final tonight and, despite members looking forward to being in the spotlight, club chairman Peter Gray admits they are continuing to set their sights high and reaching their targets.

They have come a long way in the past five years when Gray, Dave Yates and Neil Johnson took over the reins at the club after they had been relegated from the Premier Division.

Gray said: “The management team had left, we did not have a team and there was a meeting called to cease the existence of the club.

“Ernie Charnock in his 48th year would not allow that to happen and they called Neil Johnson as he was a former player and they wanted him to manage.

“Dave and I came in too and in the first two seasons we managed to stave off relegation.

“It just shows if you have the right work ethic then it can lead to positive things.”

Two cup finals and runners-up spot in Division One represents a great season for the club but they are now looking ahead to next year.

Gray said: “Neil and the players need to have a break after the season but they will looking ahead.

“They will be jaded but we are doing work on the changing rooms and pitch to get ready.

“We set ourselves targets and so far we have met them and we will continue to do that.”

One of the success stories has been Kieran Sisson with his 35-goal tally from the left wing position while Colls have their own ace-marksman in Mark Battersby with 62.

And manager Johnson admits his defence will have to be on their guard tonight.

He said: “Battersby is a good player and has played at a lot higher standard at Stockport.

“He is a goal machine I would say Kieran and him are different players but Colls have quality throughout the team with Danny Taberner in goal and players like Mark Truffas who could cause us problems.

“Our defence will have to be on guard as a team but it is a one-off game and we can cause an upset too.”

Also celebrating promotion were Ladybridge FC as runners-up in Division Two and they will be going up to Division One.

Dave Walker’s side lost their Challenge Cup final tie against Haslingden St Marys 2-1 with Sam Parkinson scoring a late consolation last Tuesday night.

Despite the defeat Walker insists it was a good season for the Tempest Road side.

He said: “It was what we set out to do at the start of the season.

"We were hoping to put in a promotion challenge.

“It was not going to be easy as the season before we finished third from bottom.”

Meanwhile, a hat-trick from Danny Ashcroft and further goals by John Crossland, Gary Barnes, Ryan Keegan and Gary Gemmell ensured Tempest United wrapped up a 7-0 win against Poulton.

In Division Two, CMB's Matt Carr took his tally to 20 goals for the season as his hat-trick defeated Kendal County 3-0.