Worksop Town grab final play-off place to cap off a fantastic campaign

Liam Hughes opened the scoring after just four minutes and Hamza Bencherif’s second-half header sealed the Tigers’ 2-0 win.

Worksop manager Craig Parry believed the main aim was to ensure maximum points in the game which brought the season to a close, saying: “After Tuesday, our full focus today was to take care of our own game.

“You can’t play much football here so we had to play to the two big lads, spin it to the corners, get the pace running beyond them (Atherton) and we stuck to the game plan.

“Overall it was a great performance, we stuck to the game plan and it was obviously a great day.”

The Tigers, who won seven of their last nine league fixtures, finished the campaign on 70 points, three points in front of the chasing pack.

Parry said 10 games ago that he was going to set his players a target final points score, which they met.

He said: “I think it goes down to, after the Ashton game, having a bit of a heart-to-heart with the players.

“Going back to basics, back to what we expect as a club and what I expect as a manager and giving them short-term targets.

“We set a points tally of 68 from that point and I haven’t looked at the league table but I'm guessing it’s pretty much on the button.

“It’s done us well doing that and again as we get over the season we’ll reflect on what we’ve done but I think it was a vital time in the season to do it.

“Seven wins out of nine is phenomenal really.”

Worksop’s top goal scorer in all competitions Liam Hughes, was pleased for the fans following the victory.

“I’m delighted for the club, delighted for the fans, delighted for my teammates and everyone associated with Worksop.

“A massive mention to the fans because home and away all season and all last season they’ve been loud and been right behind us through the good, the bad and the indifferent and everything we do on this football pitch is for them.

“Hopefully we’ve given them something to cheer about and a fantastic day out on Tuesday at one of the biggest clubs in this league.”

The striker went on to speak about the importance of the victory at the Skuna Stadium, he said: “It’s always tough coming into a game like this when you’re coming to a team with nothing to play for and you’ve got everything to play for.

“We just had to come and do our job and I thought we did that brilliantly.

“The quality just shines through, we’ve got a good mix of experience in there, led by a fantastic skipper in Hamza (Bencherif).

“The lads have rallied together and dug deep and I think we’ve got our just rewards, we deserve that spot in the play-offs if you look at the season as a whole.

“We’ve worked hard this season, I’ve missed a big chunk of it so it’s been frustrating for me but the lads have been exceptional and I feel we fully deserve it.”