STOURPORT Swifts uncorked the champagne last night after clinching the Midland Alliance championship with a comfortable 3-0 victory away at Blox-wich Town.

The win sees the Walshes Meadow club promoted to the Dr Martens Western Division for the first time in their history.

The victory maintained Swifts' impressive record of not having lost in the league since Boxing Day.

"Winning is a great feeling," said Swifts' manager, Rod Brown, after the game. "It is great for the club and the players.

"Consolidation is important for us next season and anything else is a bonus.

"But we will prepare properly and it will be lovely to see the gates at Stourport maybe where we get a couple of hundred supporters a game.

"We are not going to have an abundance of money just because we are going up, but we have got a wage structure in place which will be improved.

"That does give us the chance to compete a little bit, but we are certainly not to become the high-flying payers in the league," said Brown.

"What's nice about this squad is a lot of these lads were playing Dr Martens League and came to Stourport because they were local and there is no reason for them to go anywhere else now.

"The nice thing about winning the league is you get the pick of your players.

"It is a lovely experience to go to new clubs and new challenges next year."

Needing a two-goal winning margin to pip Rushall Olympic on goal difference, Swifts harried and hustled a young and inexperienced Bloxwich side and were rewarded with a goal within three minutes.

Midfielder Simon Marsh climbed at the back post to score with a downward header from close range.

After that breakthrough Swifts failed to carve out any clear-cut chances until the 44th minute when leading scorer Lee Booth's deflected header hit a post.

From the corner veteran defender, Jan Mulders, poked the ball home from close range.

Two minutes into first-half injury time, Booth made it three after goalkeeper, Steve Lister, spilled the ball at the striker's feet and he slid the ball home for his 40th goal of the campaign.