Holleran on the minute that changed everything

Paul Holleran admits Rob Thompson-Brown's last-minute play-off final equaliser saved him a lot of soul searching.

Thompson-Brown scored from the spot to stave off a second successive final defeat before Courtney Baker-Richardson scored in extra-time to take Brakes into the Conference North.

And, having had time to reflect on a crazy couple of weeks, Holleran admits the Birmingham Senior Cup win could easily have been his Brakes swansong.

“I can’t say it hadn’t crossed my mind,” he said.

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“We had come down, lost in the play-off final and to lose again...

“You have to be realistic and think ‘is it time for someone else to have a go?’

“But nothing was set in stone.”

Holleran confessed he did think it was not going to be his side’s day as time ticked away against Hitchin.

However, he said the beauty of football was encapsulated in the dramatic turnaround.

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“One minute changes everything and all of a sudden we have three trophies on the table.

“It’s funny football. If we don’t get the goal the season, while not a failure, would have been disappointing.

“Now all of a sudden we’ve had a fantastic season.”

Despite coming so close to play-off final defeat, Holleran was in no doubt his side deserved to join Chippenham in making the step up to the Conference for 2017/18.

“If Chippenham’s best XI were up against our best XI there wouldn’t be too much in it.

“Their squad was a bit better but if you get 90 points-plus in a season I don’t think anyone can argue (with promotion).

“Over the season we definitely deserved it.”