WINTER TURN UP THE HEAT!

Rangers have no fear of hitting new heights

- John Lyons

UP UPBEAT boss Scott Hellewell reckons Winterton Rangers can keep on causing surprises when they jump into Step 4 for the first time in their history next season.

The thriving North Lincolnshire outfit enjoyed a dream campaign as they shone in both league and cup in 2022-23. They finished runners-up in the Northern Counties East League Premier and then overcame Essex side Coggeshall Town 2-1 in a winner-takes-all Inter-Step play-off to earn promotion.

To put the icing on the cake, Rangers then beat Golcar United at Doncaster Rovers to bag the NCEL Cup.

Manager Hellewell, who took the reins in late 2018, told The NLP: “We had a three-and-a-half hour journey down to Coggeshall and we said ‘if we lose it’s going to be a long journey back, but if we win it will be unbelievable’.

“Thankfully, we had a really good journey home. It was only a couple of days until the cup final so we couldn’t do anything too drastic! It was nice to win the cup as well.