It was a moment to savour for The Dial faithful who watched their side extend their lead at the top of the table to 20 points and clinch their third consecutive promotion in three seasons.

For the first time, Dial stepped out onto the hallowed turf with eight mascots who wore the club’s yellow and blue (away) shirts.

It was the fourth meeting between the two sides; the second in four weeks, after Dial beat The Shotts 1-0 to progress through to the final of the Premier Challenge (League) Cup.

There was a good turnout to watch Steve Brown’s side rekindle their early season form, which saw the champions have the lion’s share of possession for the best part of 90% of the match.

After Harry Rice and Finley Rose-Davies scuppered a couple of early chances, Dial opened the scoring in the 13th-minute from a majestic 25-yard strike from Aidan Phillips. It was a wonderful goal from the former Reading youth prospect to create and score the opportunity.

Rice and Charlie Marshall both came close to extending Dial’s lead before the break, but the pair were denied by some timely inceptions from Shotts' goalkeeper, Daniel Platt.

The visitors' only clear-cut chance of the half fell to Tom Johnson, but he dragged his shot well wide of Andy Rider’s near post.

Shortly after the interval, Rider pulled off a great one-handed save to tip Tomas Bacon's free-kick over the bar. At the other end, Dan Cenzano fired straight at Platt from just outside the box.

With the wind back in their sails, Lawrence found Rice, who cut into the box before picking his spot past Platt to give Dial a well-deserved 2-0 lead after 68 minutes.

Another stunning individual goal, this time from Lawrence, made it 3-0 four minutes later after the midfielder managed to bend the ball around Platt from a wide position.

It went from bad to worse for the visitors when Alex Hooker deflected the ball into his own goal following James Vass' header to make it 4-0 with 13 minutes remaining.

However, Ben May did manage to score a late consolidation goal for James Kennett's side, but nothing was going to derail an afternoon of celebrations for the hosts.

Speaking after the match, Brown said: "Saturday [20 April 2024] was a great day for the club; for the players, the fans, the mascots, the management, and the players' families, who all came down to see the lads lift the League trophy after what has been an excellent season.

"Although we made a number of changes, I still thought we moved the ball around well and looked solid in possession. While it was disappointing to concede a soft goal late on, it was a minor blip. Overall, it was a really good team performance against Shottermill & Haslemere, which I felt was fitting of the occasion. It made for a great atmosphere inside the ground," added Brown.

After the match, Dial players received their Surrey County Intermediate League (Western) Premier Division winner's medal, and captain Will Neville was presented with the trophy from League Chairman, Derek Stovold, to kick-start the jubilations.

Dial Square line-up: Rider, McDermaid, Vassell (Vass), Phillips (Jennings), Bunyan, Neville, Rose-Davies (Vassell), Rice, Cenzano (Auns), Lawrence, Marshall (Brown).

MotM: Will Neville