Wylde: We deserved our promotion from conference X

The Dyes 1-0 victory away to Bathgate Thistle, courtesy of a second-half penalty from veteran hitman Andy Rodgers, ensured the Grangemouth-side will finish in the top two spots with one game to spare.

Speaking to the Herald, he said of the match: “We were a little bit nervy, but you expect that from a match with so much at stake and weren’t in any real trouble.

“Bathgate are a side that are much improved and they made it difficult for us, but we hit the woodwork seven or eight times and we should have been out of sight.

“When we needed a goal we managed to get it. Ryan Millar done well to get in behind and he was hauled down with two hands. Andy Rodgers stepped up and put it away like he always does for us.”

With the club achieving promotion in its first year within the East of Scotland league system, Wylde added that the club have big ambitions, and that he wants to continue to make use of the Syngenta Juveniles set-up which is linked to the men’s side.

“Outside the top five/six clubs in the country, our youth set-up is just as big as any side, so that bodes well for future of our club,” he explained.

“What we are creating at the moment is a real pathway for these young players to come through the ranks and play for Syngenta.

“As long as we keep going up the leagues, there will be a better pathway for these kids and if they don’t make the grade, I am some along the way will support the club as the years go on.

“It sounds cliche but the current squad have written themselves into the history books, this is the first one for us, in 50 years time someone might bring out a book about about how it all started and they’ll be remembered for that.”

The ex-East Stirlingshire and Clyde boss also took some time to mention Zander Diamond, who was in charge of the Dyes until December when he resigned.

“Zander got the team going and he deserves a lot of credit for what he did,” Wylde said. “The players were of course a little bit down for a couple of weeks but they did what good players do, and get on with it.

"I’ve been in the game far too long and you know that after someone leaves, you just let life move on.

"He's a very, very good coach and I have just continued the good ground work he put in place.

"We were ten points in front at one point and it turned into a bit of a slog but credit to the 19 players we have signed here, they fought and battled away at it and the table doesn’t lie, we deserved our promotion despite being up against established teams.”

Saturday sees the Dyes take on bottom club Pumpherston at the Falkirk Stadium. With a superior goal difference to second-placed Whitburn, who are also on 69 points, it will be a straight shoot-out to see who lifts the title.