TURTON finally had their promotion confirmed at the weekend, without having to kick a ball.

The Tigers had no game but other results mean that they will finish in at least second place, although they are determined to go up as champions – and add another trophy for good measure.

“It’s been a good weekend, to be honest,” said joint-manager Neil Johnson. “We would have liked to confirm it ourselves on our own ground but we’ll take it any way it comes, particularly after the disappointment of drawing with Haslingden last week.

“A lot of the hard work’s been done over the course of the season, but we see it as just one part of three aims that we had in pre-season. The first was to get promoted, the second was to win the title – and we think three more points should probably do it – and we want to add some more silverware in there as well. We’ll just look at the next game as the most important, that’s what we’ve done all season.”

The double disappointments of last year, when they were denied promotion and lost the cup final on penalties, have inspired the Tigers, who take on Haslingden in their President’s Cup semi-final tonight, with the winners to face Tempest United or Hurst Green in the final.

“There are no easy games,” added Johnson. “What happened last year has spurred us on. We don’t like losing, we’re competitive but there’s a great deal of respect around this league. We’ve had lots of messages from other clubs and good lads that we really respect and it’s appreciated.”

Chairman Peter Gray was delighted for everyone at Thomason Fold. He said: “We actually got off to a bad start. We didn't get off to the flier that we wanted, we lost two of the first four but we’ve not lost since the end of August. Momentum is a big word and we never really lost that. We got some good wins that put others under pressure.

"We’ve stuck together as a group, galvanised by the disappointments of last season which hurt us a lot and preparation is already underway for next season.”

They’ll join Eagley in the Premier Division, with Tempest hoping to become the third from the area in the top flight after their 3-0 win over Hawcoat paved Turton’s path to the Premier. Currently fifth, they have seven games to make up the ground and manager Ross McNair says five wins could see them snatch second spot.

“We needed that win, it was a big one for us and a lot more comfortable than I was expecting,” he said. “We started well, which we’d not done for a while and Steve Barlow and Tom Booth scored fairly early to settle us all down. It was only when a bit of complacency crept in that Hawcoat came into it but Steve Barlow scored our third to make the last 20 minutes very comfortable.

“I’m made up for Turton, they deserve promotion, and hopefully we’ll be joining them and Eagley next year. We’ve got some tough games still to come but five wins should do us.”

In the Premier Division Eagleysuffered a 2-1 defeat at Lostock St Gerards in a feisty game.

From the start Eagley looked unsettled and struggled to get a foothold, and after 30 minutes Eagley’s Nathan Derbyshire clashed with Alex Randal and was sent off, while Randal was allowed to continue.

At half time the controversy continued, this time Randal having an altercation with Eagley assistant manager Scott Derbyshire, leading to both being sent off. Eagley tried to reform, introducing the influential Sam Knowles and after some great play, Taylor Jones’ close-range goal put them 1-0 up but it didn’t last as Lostock soon equalised.

The second half continued in the same manner as the first and with 20 minutes left on the clock Eagley’s Dillon Ashton and an opposition player were both sent off, leaving nine men per side to battle for the win.

The killer goal came from Lostock’s Darren Greene to make it 2-1 and give them the points in a game best forgotten. Tonight sees the return fixture.

There were away defeats for both CMB and Stoneclough in Division Two. CMB were defeated 2-0 at Millom while Stoneclough lost 2-1 at hosts Kendal County.