Terrors ecstasy: Tooting players are jubilant after Paul Vines's late goal clinched victory over Cray Wanderers in the Ryman Division One South play-off final Deadlinepix Chris Gray CG0107
Tooting & Mitcham boss Billy Smith has admitted that keeping hold of promotion hero Paul Vines will be his number one priority this summer.
Vines struck a priceless winner as the Terrors clinched a place in the Ryman League Premier Division with a 1-0 play-off final victory over Cray Wanderers on Saturday.
And Smith revealed that the scouts were circling around his star striker.
He said: "Everybody is looking for a goalscorer and Paul is one of the best there is.
"Hopefully, we can hang on to him for next season as he is vital to us.
"Paul had a lot of clubs showing him the door earlier in his career.
advertisement
"We gave him a chance and he has repaid us in full."
Vines's 79th-minute strike settled a nervy encounter as Tooting erased the bitter memory of their play-off heartache last year to spark the celebrations at Imperial Fields.
But Smith insisted he had had full confidence in his side.
He added: "Everybody was saying how nervous they were, but I was quite relaxed as in the back of my mind I knew that we had already beaten them three times this season.
"I always felt one goal was going to decide it and I thought we deserved it."
The squad now head to Majorca for a well-earned rest before Smith will outline his plans for life in the Ryman Premier Division.
And he is convinced his side have what it takes to make a splash at the next level.
He added: "I think most of the players are capable of playing at a higher level.
"It will make a nice change to go up against teams who try to play football.
"Everyone knows this is a club I have a lot of feelings for.
"We have been in the doldrums for too long, and I hope we can push on from here."
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
Comment
