Bromley & Beckenham Ladies' captain Lucy Shepherd celebrates promotion Pic: Rob Smedley

Six of the best for ladies secures top spot

Bromley & Beckenham Ladies' first and second teams face the camera Pic: Rob Smedley

» The celebrations lasted late into the evening on Saturday as Bromley & Beckenham Ladies celebrated promotion to the national leagues for the first time in their history.

The side have enjoyed top spot in the Eastern Premier Division for most of the season and needed just five points from their final five matches to clinch the league title.

However, an untimely drop in form meant they produced just two points from the first three of those fixtures.

There were no signs of nerves at Hawksbrook Lane on Saturday though as coach Ben Allbery’s side hit six goals past bottom club Wisbech Town and secure a historic promotion.

Bromley & Beckenham Ladies' Emma Greenway celebrates scoring Pic: Rob Smedley

“It’s a great achievement,” said captain Lucy Shepherd.

“It’s the result of a lot of hard work and everyone was pretty ecstatic.”

Emma Greenway scored twice in the opening exchanges to stun the visitors, before Lucy Shepherd scored her first of the season for their third.

Emma Shepherd made it four before the break, while Vikki Taylor and Liza Hawkins rounded off the win in the second half.

Finally it was time for the champagne to be taken out of the ice bucket and Shepherd revealed they were in no hurry to stop the celebrations.

“Being the sensible captain I left about midnight,” she laughed. “But I think a few of the younger ones went on even later.”

BromBeck visit Dereham this weekend in the final match of the season.

“It’s a three-hour trip so there’s no point going there and not trying to win,” added Shepherd. “We want to finish on a high.

“It will be a tough league next year and there is a lot to work on. We’ll have a break first, but I’m sure it won’t be long before the coach starts work again.”