Happy slap! Kaine Felix's wonder goal was just the wake-up call Boston United's promotion dreams needed

And his goal was the perfect wake-up call, revitalising the Pilgrims as they trailed 1-0 to play-off rivals Nuneaton Town.

After Lewis Hilliard’s corner was nodded clear by the Boro defence, Felix was in the right place to sweetly smack the ball beyond Jordan Smith and into the roof of the net.

“It’s amazing. I was just going to stick it in the mixer because the bigger lads were still in there, but I was too close to the ball so I just thought ‘why not give it my best?’” Felix said.

“It managed to go in first time.

“This is the real stage and I’ve hit a screamer, I’m happy about that.

“It gave us a slap in the face, we needed to get in the play-offs and we had to get on with it.”

Jay Rollins then added a second-half winner as Boston gave themselves a four-point cushion ahead of Nuneaton, who still have a game in hand - tonight’s visit to Bradford Park Avenue.

“It’s a massive achievement,” reflected manager Dennis Greene, whose jubilant post-match celebrations proved just how vital that success was to keeping Nuneaton from stealing fifth spot.

“Had we lost our season would be over. Now we go through with excitement, hope and belief we can get in (the top five) next week.”