Hayes are up - and Haylock's already looking ahead

Hayes boss Garry Haylock is already looking forward to the challenge of the Blue Square Premier League – and life without star players Will Hendry and Josh Scott.

As his players celebrated Thursday's play-off win with champagne and a synchronised swallow-dive in front of their ecstatic fans at the Beveree Stadium, Haylock said he was already planning the next campaign – which will pit his team against teams like Luton Town, Wrexham and Oxford United.

“I've been aware that we may well lose the two of them [Hendry and Scott],” Haylock said moments after his side had clinched their return to the fifth tier of English football.

“There have been scouts at our games for months and months, but I'm not complaining.

“I've got four players lined up to talk to but I've had to wait until I knew which division I would be in and I've also got to talk to the players we've got, so that's made my next three weeks extremely busy!”

Haylock added: “We've earned this and next season I think we will be competitive. But it's going to be a steep learning curve and we've got to hit the ground running.

“We're back on the 27^th of June and I might bring that forward a week now. I've got a training camp planned and although they can have a couple of weeks to enjoy this, we'll have to go again soon because that's the way it's got to be.”

Hayes always looked to have the edge over Hampton but suffered for their failure to build on an eighth minute lead they gained when Scott Fitzgerald tapped in a Dale Binns cross from close range.

And when former United player Shaun McAuley cashed in on some slack marking to fire past Delroy Preddie five minutes into the second half, Haylock's men knew they could not take their promotion for granted.

That feeling intensified with 20 minutes to go after an awful mistake from the normally reliable Preddie.

The keeper, rolling the ball in front of him in preparation for a clearance upfield, failed to notice Hampton striker Ian Hodges lurking behind him and had the embarrassment of seeing the ball stolen off him and planted into an empty net.

Luckily for him, his goalkeeping counterpart was destined for an equally inglorious contribution. Matt Lovett failed to keep out a cross from Steve Gregory which sailed over his head into the top corner just two minutes after his side had gone in front. And two minutes more and he was left floundering after failing to get down quickly enough to another Gregory drive, which the Hayes midfielder dispatched after riding two weak challenges.

Lovett must have felt like vanishing at that moment and he soon did just that – leaving the field early after getting a red card in injury time for racing out to the touchline to upend Fitzgerald as Hayes mounted a breakaway.

It was the moment Haylock and his players knew their mission was accomplished and that the planning for next season could start.