Conneely is true to his word as he leads Kenilworth to the title

Following Coventry United’s defeat to Perrywood in one of their two games in hand, Town knew three points in their final game at home to Northwood on Saturday would guarantee them top spot.

Luke Wilson was the hero, converting a penalty to give Town a 2-1 win after Luke Vuckovic, scorer of the hosts’ first goal, had been brought down in the box.

The three points completed a fine end to the campaign which saw Kenilworth win 16 and draw one of their last 18 and justified Conneely’s faith in himself.

“I went down to Kenilworth and got talking,” said Conneely, who made the switch from Coventry Spires. “I couldn’t understand why they were in the position they were in with the facilities they have got.

“They asked me what I could do and I said I could win the league for you.”

The process proved harder than he anticipated, however, with only four players from the previous squad turning up for the first training session.

Director of Football John Williams was tasked with emailing 40 to 50 players in order to bolster the ranks and Conneely said the fruits of his labour were only realised after Christmas.

“We might not have the best individual players, but player for player we’ve got the best squad and that has paid off.

“I said after our defeat to Rostance Edwards that we had 13 or 14 cup finals and we had to win them all.

“We won a lot of them ugly and in 40 to 50 per cent we had our backs to the wall.

“So to do what we have done, and without winter training, is a remarkable achievement.”