LEE Sinnott reflected on the substitution to end them all, at the end of an incredible Skrill North play-off final at the J.Davidson Stadium, and beamed: ‘You can call me a lucky manager – I’ll settle for that.’ The Alty boss sent on Greg Wilkinson to take part in an anticipated penalty shoot-out and saw him score with his first touch, in extra time injury time, to seal a 2-1 win over Guiseley.

“It was luck, pure and simple,” he smiled. “People say there are good managers and lucky ones, and if you want to call me a lucky manager, that’s fine by me.

“If I had sent Greg on three minutes earlier, when he was pestering me to, it may well not have panned out the same way. The sequence of events wouldn’t have been the same. That’s where luck comes in. It was incredible, really.

“I gave it a clenched fist to begin with, but then I turned round to people in the main stand and found myself laughing a bit. I wasn’t being disrespectful to Guiseley, and I certainly wasn’t going to do a Jose Mourinho and go running down the touchline.

“But I couldn’t help smiling and saying to those behind me: “I sent him on to take a pen, and he’s gone and b***** well won it for us!” I’m just delighted and so proud for everyone, the chairman (Grahame Rowley) and his family, everyone who works for the club, the players and, of course, the supporters. The mantra when I took over was ‘put a smile on faces’. Hopefully, that’s job done.”

The celebrations will continue this coming Saturday, when Sinnott, assistant-manager Neil Tolson, chairman Grahame Rowley and various backroom staff will take part in a question and answer session in the Noel White Suite from 7.30pm. Supporters can have their photograph taken with the play-off trophy and take advantage of beers at promotional prices as a thank you for their backing this season.