Brechin boss Darren Dods has revealed he was determined not to jinx his side’s promotion chances by putting aside any thoughts of planning an after-match party.
The Glebe gaffer had been caught out once before when he was a player at Forfar two seasons ago when Dick Campbell’s side were odds on to win promotion to the Championship.
They had established a 3-1 lead over Alloa in the first leg of the play-offs but were stunned in the return leg, losing 3-0.
A planned party afterwards was understandably a damp squib with Dods determined there would be no repeat when his current side played the Wasps at the Indodrill Stadium last weekend.
He said: “Brechin were big underdogs in both games so it was a fantastic achievement by everyone to win promotion especially after a nerve-racking penalty shoot-out.
“We hadn’t even spoken about promotion before Saturday.
“The chairman had mentioned maybe hiring a hotel with a buffet for an after-game party.
“We had done something similar when I was at Forfar two seasons ago when we went to Alloa only to miss out on promotion.
“We had a hotel booked with music laid on but everyone was devastated and left after about half an hour.
“So I didn’t want to jinx it this time!
“Instead, we had an impromptu celebration in a pub in the Bridge of Allan.
“Everyone had a great night but the hard work starts now.”
Dods will begin setting his plans in motion for life in the Championship with the manager admitting that just staying in the division will be Brechin’s main aim next season.
He said: “I will be having meetings with the chairman later this week to see where we go from here.
“We will be looking to bring four or five new players in and we have also started talking to the current players.
“It looked like it would be James Dale’s last game for us at Alloa but if he can get a job up here we might be able to persuade him to stay. He is back down south just now for a break with his folks and we will speak again soon.
“The Championship will be a new challenge for most of the lads.
“It will be incredibly tough with Falkirk, Morton, St Mirren, Inverness and possibly Hamilton or Dundee United in the league.
“We will give it our best shot but our target will undoubtedly be survival.”
