Chairman Paul Markland admits Hythe weren’t ready for the play-offs but has praised Clive Cook and his players for getting there in the first place.

Hythe were in the Ryman League Division 1 South relegation zone when they sacked Tim Dixon in September but managed to climb to fourth in the final table.

New boss Cook led them to 27 wins in 36 league games and that was enough to drag the Cannons into the top five.

They were thrashed 7-0 at Worthing in the play-off semi-finals but Mr Markland insisted that result shouldn’t detract from a remarkable season.

He said: "To finish fourth in Ryman South from 22nd, you can’t take anything away from the lads.

"OK, we didn’t do as well in the play-offs as we’d hoped but perhaps we weren’t quite as ready as we should have been.

"But other than that, to go from relegation candidates to play-off candidates, what an achievement.

"I targeted getting out of the relegation zone and into the top half. Little did I know how high up we would go.

"The boys and Clive and his assistants have done a great job. We’re in a good place for next year."

It was Hythe’s equal-highest league finish, their fourth place matching what Scott Porter, assisted by Cook, achieved in 2012/13.

Mr Markland said: "We’re back where we belong. The confidence is there, you can see it in the playing side and when you talk to people on the terrace, they can’t believe where we were and where we are now.

"Everybody felt it. Even when you say ‘we got in the play-offs but we didn’t do too well there’ the supporters say 'forget all that, what an achievement'."

Read the full story in the Folkestone & Hythe Express.