Party time for Murt and co as Burscough seal first ever Prem crown

CMB’s 0-0 draw at home to Tempest United on Wednesday night handed Richmond the title after an epic battle at the top of the table which almost went to the wire.

Murt described the final few weeks of the run in as ‘torture’ and said finally getting over the line was ‘sheer relief’.

The Liverpool fan was at the Man City match with his son when he found out CMB had only drawn via the club’s WhatsApp account.

“My mate works for Betway and me and my little lad were in the corporate box – it’s a good job I was somewhere as if I had been at home I would have been at my wit’s end!

“The effect the last few months has had has been enormous so it was just sheer relief when it came through we had won it. I can’t believe it now. We’re all meeting tonight for a beer so it will sink in then.

“Last year we fell short and lost so many points to late goals but this year the mentality has been the difference.

“They just kept going and they believed they could do it.”

Murt pointed to the 3-1 home win over Fulwood Amateurs in February as the day he knew his side had the staying power to win the title, recovering from an early goal down to seal one of 15 straight wins at home.

“We turned it round that day and that was the day I knew we had what was needed to get over the line,” said Murt, a former non-league striker.

“Wrens away too – we had all had a big lay-off since Christmas and won in the last minute while not at our best. It’s little things like that, we’ve had our luck along the way, but I think we deserve it.

“Everyone will point to Raj up front and he’s been immense but I think we’ve won it through our defence. We’ve only conceded 29 goals in 29 games and they’ve been outstanding, and Matty Edwards our keeper.”

Without CMB pushing them every step of the way, the title race would be long over.

And Murt had special praise for the Bolton side – and manager Matt Taylor in particular.

“Matt tried to ring me last night but I was at the game so I couldn’t answer,” he said.

“He sent me a message to pass on his congratulations to us and that’s a real touch of class from him. A few of their players have been on Twitter to say the same so it says everything about Matt and CMB.

“They have been at our heels for weeks and it’s been a great battle and great to be part of.”

Burscough end their campaign at Slyne-with-Hest this Saturday where they will receive the trophy – and another party is in the pipeline for Murt and co.

“It’s my wife’s 40th on Friday night and our skipper Lee McNab’s 40th on Saturday night so I think Sunday I’ll be struggling!”