Colby sealed promotion and the Division Two title with a tight and cagey 1-0 win over Douglas Royals at Station Fields on Tuesday night.

The Moonlighters knew that a point would be enough to seal promotion to the Canada Life Premier League for the first time since 2018, and played like a team under pressure in the opening 10 minutes against a resolute and dogged Royal side.

The home side did have the first chance of the game, however, when a long-range strike from talisman Jordan Edge was spilled by keeper James Lowey with Seb Spiers firing over the rebound.

Following a controversial handball shout for a penalty, Colby wasted no time in taking the lead thanks to the individual brilliance of Edge.

A cross into the box from Ste Collister led to a heavy touch from a Royal defender, with Jimmy Warren sliding in and the ball ending up at the feet of Edge on the left of the penalty area. Shifting the ball onto his left foot, he fired the ball past Lowey with a low drive to give Colby the lead.

The second half was a timid and scrappy affair, with the Moonlighters doing well to keep Division Two top scorer Bailey Ashton relatively quiet.

With the full-time whistle came news of Marown’s 4-3 loss at home to Malew, confirming Colby’s first second-tier title since 2007-08.

First-team manager Josh Mcfee said: ‘I’m ecstatic! The goal at the start of the season was promotion and they’ve gone one better with winning the league.

‘I couldn’t be prouder of the boys. They come to training week in week out and work their socks off - I couldn’t ask much more of them.’