DEAN'S STONES ARE ON A ROLL

WEALDSTONE RUN A PERFECT RACE

- David Richardson

ON THE long journey back from Weymouth to London it dawned on Dean Brennan that he might just be on to something good.

The sing-a-long with his players was in full flow, the joy of three points in a thrilling 4-3 win over one of their promotion rivals on a sunny Bank Holiday Monday in August was seemingly unending.

Brennan’s new-look Stones were enjoying only their ninth consecutive day at the top of National League South – by the time they have crowned champions on Wednesday evening they had been there for 298.

Their top-flight return had been a long time coming as it was – 32 years which saw them fall as low as the old Isthmian Division Three.

This time last year, Brennan’s contacts book was getting a proper thumbing, having only inherited five of the team which lost in the play-off semi-finals under Bobby Wilkinson.

That day at Weymouth last August, where the Stones threw away a 3-1 lead only to still win in the last minute through Ross Lafayette’s hat-trick goal, was a moment of vindication that the boss had got it right.

“We came back on the bus that day and had karaoke for four hours,” Brennan told The NLP. “We had shown great character to win. You could see the togetherness and everything is created.

Philosophy