As sporting scripts go, this was as implausible as they come. Win your final two games of the season by ten clear goals to grab promotion to the Premier League. Mission impossible? Not quite, but not far off.

When the final whistle blew at Links Avenue on Saturday afternoon, however, the script that had been dismissed as fanciful and delusionary had become a reality. Disbelief gave way to unbridled joy.

Tauranga City United players Sam Nahna, Jordan Culpepper and Colm Kenny celebrate their remarkable promotion. Photo: Bob Ricketts.

Fresh from beating bottom-club Ngaruawahia 6-0 the previous week, Tauranga City United were tasked with winning by four clear goals against Mangere over the weekend, and even the most optimistic supporters were sceptical.

But that was never the case in the dressing room, and with belief coursing through their veins, Duncan Lowry's men got the job done concisely and professionally with two goals in each half.

'In all of our minds, we thought 4-0 was the minimum we could get,” explains United midfielder Jordan Culpepper, who was once again a vital cog in the Blues' engine room.

'My mind-set was we were going to get promotion. That was the mind-set of the entire squad”

The final standings in the Northern League First Division.

While the players bossed proceedings on the pitch thanks to a stunning opener from Andrew Cooper, two more from top scorer Jerahl Hughes and the all-important fourth from Bethlehem College teen Strauss Boom, nerves remained frayed on the touchline.

'I'm an emotional wreck,” admitted coach Lowry after the final whistle. 'It's like something from a comic book.

'If you'd told me three years ago that we'd be promoted to the Premier League, I'd of laughed at you, but to do it like this – needing four goals and getting them – is extraordinary.

'Football has been my life and soul all of my life, and when the final whistle blew I thought ‘someone is looking out for me'. Only God could write a script like that.”

Devine intervention aside, the efficiency of United's performance was attributed to mental preparation.

The party gets underway at Links Avenue. Photo: Bob Ricketts.

And through the din of celebration in and around the players' tunnel and the home dressing room, one word continued to spring to the fore. Composure.

'All we talked about at training on Tuesday and Thursday last week was composure, composure, composure,” admits Lowry.

'We emphasised the need for composure before the game,” adds Culpepper, 'and told each other that if you get a sight of goal, take a breath and think about placement and technique.”

Praise – and deserved praise at that – was dished out to include the entire group.

'Our big man up front, Colm Kenny, emptied the tank for us,” says Lowry, 'but we've got a bench that can score goals. We brought off good players and replaced them with good players – that's what a team is all about.

'It's not about the 11 who start, it's about the depth in the squad.

But an extra-special mention was reserved for the outstanding player of 2015 – not just for Tauranga but across the entire Northern League First Division.

Jerahl Hughes' contribution cannot be quantified in a two-minute pitchside interview, but Culpepper gave it a good go. 'That's Jerahl all over,” he says of the league's golden boot winner, who took his tally to 21 on Saturday.

Jerahl Hughes (left) ended the campaign as the division's top scorer, with 21 goals. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

'We can't stop in him training – the only way to stop him is to bring him down! I'm just glad I'm playing alongside him and not against him. He's one of the best players I've ever steeped onto the park with.”

But he was also quick to shift accolades on to United's backroom team, lead by the infectiously passionate Lowry.

'Times like this make the hard work worthwhile,” admits Culpepper, 'but all of the boys really wanted to do it for the coach and the coaching staff, so we're over the moon to have done it for them.

'A lot of people in this league said we couldn't do it with two games remaining, but we scored ten goals in two games and all I can say is watch out next year.”

The nod to next season, and the challenges that lie ahead in the promised land of the Premier League, was not lost on Lowry either.

There'll be no slowing of momentum, and even amidst euphoric scenes of jubilation and the sprays of champagne that soaked the Links Avenue pitch, Tauranga City United continue to look forward.

'Now we can start planning for next year,” says Lowry, 'because that'll be a step up for us and we need to get things right behind the scenes.

'When I was interviewed for this job, someone told me I was too ambitious. How right they were.”

An emotional Duncan Lowry is congratulated after the game. Photo: Ricketts.