BOWERS & Pitsea clinched promotion via the Isthmian North play-offs with a dramatic penalty shoot-out success against Brentwood Town at the Len Salmon Stadium.

Bowers triumphed 3-2 on spot-kicks after the two Essex teams were locked level at 1-1 after 120 minutes.

And Bowers’ player of the year Geofrey Okonkwo could not contain his delight at the final whistle.

“It’s everything we’ve worked for all year,” said Okonkwo.

“Promotion was our goal at the start of the season, many wrote us off but we stuck together throughout.

“I’ve come close before so finally getting over the hurdle and winning brings me great joy and it’s an unbelievable feeling.”

Bowers broke the deadlock in the 16th minute with Chris Millar on target but Brentwood equalised in the 34th minute with Matt Cripps hitting the back of the net.

And Okonkwo felt it was tough going for both teams.

“It wasn’t the prettiest game to watch but cup finals can turn out like that,” said Okonkwo.

“They went to extra time in their semi-final, as did we, so playing 120 plus minutes again was tough on both teams and maybe that showed.

“It was an even game in my opinion and set piece goals from both teams being the difference proves that.

“Winning on penalties in the semi-finals gave us confidence going into the shoot-out too.

“We’ve done things the hard way all season so we weren’t phased by the pressure of the moment.”

Bowers will now line up in the Isthmian Premier League next season.

And Okonkwo believes the team’s togetherness has played a huge part in their success.

“I don’t think there were many secrets from us,” said Okonkwo.

“If we needed to turn games into a battle, we were more than comfortable doing so.

“On the other hand, we’ve shown we can punish teams and score goals with a more attractive style of football.

“We can switch it up depending on our opposition and get the job done.

“But overall, I think our biggest strength this year was our resilience and togetherness.

“We just never knew when we were beaten and always believed.”

Okonkwo, Benas Vaivada and Olly Sotoyinbo all scored from 12 yards for Bowers while goalkeeper David Hughes made two crucial saves to secure promotion.

And Vaivada was overjoyed to come out on top.

“It means so much to me,” said Vaivada.

“The fact we had a slow start to the season and still ended it with a chance to win automatic promotion is still beyond me.

“We had so many ups and downs this season and that just makes this promotion feel 10 times better.”

But Vaivada admitted Bowers were made to work hard for Saturday’s win.

“To be honest we were nowhere near our best,” said Vaivada.

“But we did what we have done all season and that is dug in.

“You could tell the two hour plus drive and 120 minutes in Suffolk in the week for both teams was kicking in towards the latter stages of normal time and extra time.

“But the main thing during that time was staying concentrated and not switching off because if any team went a goal down I didn’t see a way back.”

However, Bowers stayed in the game before winning on spot-kicks.

And Vaivada feels the team's togetherness has played a huge part in the success achieved this season.