Outgoing boss Keith Graham hailed a ‘fairytale ending’ as Irvine AFC won promotion to Ayrshire amateur football’s top flight for the first time on Saturday.
A 5-1 win away to Catrine in the final game of their league campaign guaranteed Irvine’s place in the Premier Division next season – and brought a fitting end to Graham’s five-year spell in the hotseat.
And the popular gaffer, who formed the club in 2011 and led them through the divisions, admits he couldn’t have asked for a better way to bow out.
Graham, who announced last September he would step down at the end of the campaign to take a background role, said: “That was probably our best performance for two or three seasons. I was a bit worried before the game as well because we were missing a number of key players.
“To go to Catrine, and win there for only the second time ever, was just fantastic. With respect to Catrine I expected a bit of a battle but that tells you how well we played.
“To a man, the players were superb. It was a day when everything went right for us. To finish my last game this way, you could say it was a fairytale ending.”
Irvine, backed by a travelling support of around 30, could have been a couple of goals to the good inside the opening five minutes but for a combination of good goalkeeping and poor decision making in the final third.
They eventually broke the deadlock when full-back Andrew Reid raced onto a long punt and dinked the Catrine keeper.
Darren Sherman rifled home number two in 35 minutes but Catrine pulled one back just before the break to set up a nervy second half.
Sherman restored Irvine’s two-goal advantage with his second goal of the afternoon on the hour mark and when Craig Gillies coolly slotted home a fourth five minutes later, victory and promotion was virtually secured. Reid made absolutely sure by completing his brace with 10 minutes left on the clock.
Jordan McMurtrie will replace Graham in the hotseat with Davie Gillies joining Graeme Lawless, Craig McGinn and Ian Cousar as assistant for next season.
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