East Preston secured promotion back to the SCFL Premier Division on Saturday by beating St Francis Rangers 2-1 with goals from skipper Tom Lyne and a Jared Rance penalty.

East Preston dominated the first half as SFR were content to sit back and didn’t really look to get men forward. In one of their few attacks SFR took the lead after 31 mins when poor control in the EP defence allowed Rhys White through on goal and his shot beat Chris Cook in SFR’s only shot on target in the first half.

As in the previous week against Bexhill EP had a number of goal scoring opportunities with Dan Huet shooting wide, Josh Etherington had a header cleared off the line and Rance having a shot saved. The equaliser came after 41 mins when from a Rance corner the ball fell to Tom Lyne who stabbed the ball home from 6 yards.

Half Time: 1-1

East Preston started the second half on the front foot and continued to pile the pressure on. From a Rance cross Hayden Hunter headed against the bar, Lukas Franzen-Jones had a shot that went wide and Jack Barnes had a shot saved.

The winning goal came after 78 mins when Etherington was fouled in the box and a penalty awarded by referee Stuart Green. Rance stepped up to coolly converted the penalty.

EP had further opportunities to increase their lead with Hunter lacking composure and shooting high and wide when in a great position. Steve Herbert tried to lob the keeper after a great run down the left but his effort was saved.

EP’s keeper Cook made a great save late on to deny White an equaliser as he pushed his shot onto the post and out for a corner

Full Time: 2-1

Manager Bob Paine said ‘I’m very proud of my young players to have secured promotion particularly for many of them it is their first season in senior football. All the players have worked very hard throughout the season and we have achieved our main target. We haven’t finished yet as we still have it in our hands to win the league so we must keep focussed in our last two games at Langney Wanderers and Selsey and we will see what happens.’

Team: Chris Cook, Josh Parazo, Jacob Parazo, Ryan Hallett (Gilbertson 76 mins), Tom Lyne, Josh Etherington, Jared Rance, Jack Barnes, Dan Huet, Lukas Franzen-Jones (Herbert 68 mins), Hayden Hunter
Subs: Ben Purkis, Matt Smith, Jarrad Gilbertson, Ollie Stevenson, Steve Herbert