Punjab United are an Isthmian League club – “Sunday League to Step Four in nine years! When you dream about something and you put hard effort in, get good people around you, and have a great fan base, you can do anything and achieve anything!”

After an enthralling near three hours of football with two sides that were so evenly matched, KSN along with the club’s own TV station spoke exclusively to the man who’s dreams many years ago finally came true – Punjab Chairman and boss Chipie Sian.

Say it quietly in certain parts of Gravesend but a man who had a dream of taking a Sunday League club into the English pyramid came true at Jockey Farm on May day Bank Holiday Monday when the giant figure of retiring keeper Mitch Beeney kept out the decisive kick in a penalty shoot-out to send United into the Isthmian League to make the bosses dreams come true.

“Well, we’ve done it the Punjab way!” a very delighted manager told us. “There was nothing in the whole game, but I think we could have had a penalty in the ninety minutes, but in truth they frustrated the hell out of me because there was absolutely nothing in the game.

“We knew what to expect as they are a good side – they played well and we knew what we had to do. We sort of sussed them out. First half was very even, but I thought second half we played better. I wasn’t happy in the first half with any of the players and I let them know that at half time.

“I told them at the break that if we are going to lose this game, I am not doing what we did against Cockfosters!” Sian has been regretful on the way his side lost to the London side in the Vase semi-finals and a frustrated boss admitted that he said to the players on this occasion.

 “We are not going out there for the second half and losing our way and not even trying! We told them that if we lose, we lose, but we are going to give everything. And for fifteen minutes we did just that and thought we were outstanding putting Rusthall under pressure despite the fact they were going down the hill. To say we did that after playing five games in ten days is amazing – trying to get more and more out of the game and knowing that they could do it.”

“Then they scored at a very disappointing time for us – poor defending all round, but I always thought we would get one. We just needed one decent cross into the box, but I did think that it was well deserved as I would have been very, very disappointed if it had finished one-nil after letting a goal like that in. But this team never gives up – we came back from disappointments before… the Vase was a massive one but not for me,” Sian admitted for the first time.

“This League is more important to me and always had been – the boys wanted the Vase, but I have always wanted the League and to be honest I don’t give a damn about any of that now – we are in Step Four! Eight, nine years ago when I moved the Club from Sunday mornings to Saturdays, I said that I wanted to get to Step Four and people stood there and laughed at me and I was that we would never get out of the Kent County – to those people, and others who have had their say, I just say look where we are today!”

“Sunday League to Step Four in nine years! When you dream about something and you put hard effort in, get good people around you, and have a great fan base you can do anything and achieve anything!”

“Any thoughts of a couple of weeks off – it’s not going to happen! My wife won’t be so happy – it’s still very emotional and it hasn’t sunk in yet that we are a Step Four club. I saw the Sevenoaks boss (Marcel Nimani), and he said see you next year and we are playing teams and managers like that… We deserve it as the boys have shown me and given everything. We’ve gone Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday since had the disappointment of the Senior Trophy loss to Whitstable and for that form I don’t think anyone has given us credit for that.”

Sian wanted to take a team into Step Four, we wanted to know if he would take the team into Step Four? “The players deserve the chance, but we won’t change much,” he answered and so we asked directly, will he do it himself and he said after a slight pause to collect his thoughts and almost through tears confessed, “I think I am going to have too! Theres a lot going on next year with a new stadium build, so I will have to sit down with the family and go through it! I wanted to get a team there and I thought I could do my bit and leave it, but I think I will have to give it one try – I have to manage at the next level; I have to test myself – I am going to have to do it!”