PENRHYNCOCH manager Gari Lewis has described the "unbelievable drama" of winning the Spar Mid Wales League division one title last weekend.

A late goal from captain Owain James sealed a crucial 1-0 victory over Hay St Mary’s at Cae Baker to secure championship honours in the last five minutes of the campaign.

The win saw Penrhyn pip Knighton Town to the title by just a single point - with the Radnor Robins also winning their final game 2-1 at home to Llanrhaeadr.

It completed a thrilling title chase, that also saw Penrhyn net a late winner to win 3-2 against Tywyn Bryncrug last Wednesday, after losing 1-0 to Carno on Monday.

“I’ve never won a league title either as a player or a manager, so I’m chuffed to do it now,” said Penrhyn boss Gari Lewis.

“I had talked about it going to the wire, but I didn’t think it would go to the last few minutes of the season. I must have aged 10 years, it was unbelievable drama.

“In the end it was a massive effort, the boys deserve so much credit for the way they kept going, even when Knighton looked to be firm favourites, but Mach did us a great favour by beating them.”

He added: “It’s been tough playing four games in the last week, but we’ve dug deep and in the end we got our reward.

“I was pleased Penbanc (Owain James) got the winner, he’s a brilliant leader, and we missed him when he was away.”

The Roosters knew that victory would clinch the title, but it became nervy when they were still drawing 0-0, and they knew Knighton were ahead in their game.

“We were getting the news through via Twitter, first we heard that Knighton were losing 1-0, and then that Llanrhaeadr had missed a penalty,” commented Lewis.

“But then it all changed in the second half when Knighton scored twice in a couple of minutes, so we knew we had to beat Hay and we just had to keep going.

“You start wondering whether it’s going to be your day, but thankfully we got the goal at the end, and we could celebrate.”

The club will meet on Thursday to discuss promotion and a return to the Cymru Alliance after three seasons in the Spar Mid Wales League, and chairman Kevin Jenkins has had confirmation that the club has met the ground criteria to go up.

“A lot of work has gone into securing the criteria and hopefully we can continue to develop our infrastructure,” he said.

Meanwhile, Penrhyncoch now chase the double, and they will play Carno in the semi-finals of the Spar Mid Wales League Cup a week on Friday at Llanidloes.

“As holders, we also still want to win the League Cup and the double, but the pressure is now off us as the league was our priority this season,” added Lewis.