Mark Picking says Comber are relishing a return to the Premier Division after they finally clinched the 1A title at the weekend.
All eyes were on Kilmore’s game at Abbey Villa on Saturday of course, and Picking made the trip himself to get his own proof of whether Comber would go up as champions or as runners-up.
Emotionally, he admits he was put through the wringer as Kilmore took the lead, and then pressed for a winner after Abbey Villa’s instant equaliser.
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But thankfully for him, co-manager Gareth McKeown and everyone else associated with the Park Way club, just as they did against Comber a few weeks earlier, Villa refused to let anyone win the league on their own backyard, eventually claiming a 2-1 win to hand Comber the title and Rosario promoton.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Picking about the buzz of lifting the title.
“It’s a completely different feeling, winning it as a player and winning it as a manager because as a manager it’s also about all the players, the chairman, the supporters... so it’s just unbelievable and I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet.
“I went down to the game and it was probably the worst game I could watch, at 0-0 at half-time I just wanted it to finish now because that was us winning the league.
“And then 15 minutes in (to the second half), Kilmore scored and I actually felt physically sick.
“Then after Abbey Villa equalised, it was still all Kilmore, they were on the front foot.
“But fair play to Abbey Villa, they had a say in who went down and who won it. I was talking to Scotty Collins, I played with Scotty and he sent me a message to say nobody is going to win the league at Abbey Villa.
“Abbey Villa and Comber would be really close rivals so for them to go out and do what they done was incredible.
“There was some support there as well, obviously the Rosario ones were down, Comber was there, ones supporting their own club and then Kilmore brought a busload down.
“So they went out and did themselves and their club proud, and for the Amateur League, it was amazing.
“For us, it’s just great to see people like Mark Brady and Gary McKibben, local people who have helped me and G (McKeown) out so much this season, and to see how much it means to them.”
Now thoughts turn to an assault on the top flight this coming August, and while the managerial duo have identified some areas in need of strengthening, Picking has promised to stand by the players who performed so admirably for the club in getting them to the Premier Division in the first place.
“We brought in a lot of homegrown players, ones who winning the title with the club, it would mean something to them, and we all stuck together all season,” explained the ex-Linfield man.
“Now looking at next season, we know there are certain areas we need to strengthen, we lost Kyle Woods to Bangor at the start of the season, I reckon if Kyle had have stayed, we would have won the league a lot earlier because we were missing an out-and-out striker.
“But in saying that, the players we currently have there at the club, they will hold their own in the Premier.
“They are young, fit, we have the best centre midfielder in the Amateur League in Simon Hanna, so it’s just keeping the group we have together now, and adding a few additions.
“But listen, the players who got us there, who stuck by me and G, we have to stick by them.
“Me and G, our season starts now with preparations because it’s going to be tough next season but we’ll be ready.”
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