Royston Town manager Chris Watters says the final games of this season are being used as an opportunity to put plans in place for next season - and if the win over Kettering Town is anything to go by, those plans look very exciting.
The 4-0 win in the Southern League Premier Division Central was as dominant as it sounds and had the bonus of being very pretty to watch too.
And the Crows boss hopes a good end to this campaign will mean a quick start to the next one.
He said: "Look at Mickleover last year. They went into this season on the back of a good run then.
"We probably knew maybe six games ago [we weren’t going to make the play-offs]. We had been on a really good run, but there wasn't any identity to the football? There was no brand. It was just churn out results and it wasn't very pretty to watch.
"Once we knew we were safe, we said this is what we want to do next season so we’ll spend this season learning.
"The should I stay or should I go conversations haven't happened yet, but there is still a lot of learning time and the lads have bought into it and understand that we can still finish as high as possible.
"If you'd have offered eighth to me at the start of the year, hand on heart, I'd have ripped your hand off because it's it's a big step forward from what we did last year.
"But I want to win the league, I've got to be realistic.
"We were 18 points off the play-offs last year and I just want to be as close as possible this year."
The win over the Poppies saw them 2-0 up inside 15 minutes, Kian Harness with both.
Ronnie Henry then headed in the third early in the second half before a good team goal was finished off late on by Andronicos Georgiou.
"I think dominance is a fair word to use," said Watters. "We were very good for the four and could have been more potentially.
"We haven't been fantastic in the first periods of the last three games, our tempo has not been good or ball speed.
"We had a good chat this week and we said to them to go and be expansive and get at them.
"We dictated play from minute one to minute 93 or whatever it was so I’m really happy.
"And it's nice because that's what we've been aspiring for all season.
"Kettering have got some lovely players and while there might have been that end of season feel about it, I don't think they got to grips with the way we attacked the game.
"It's nice from a coaching perspective that it's worked."
His final word was for two-goal hero Harness who is really catching the eye at Garden Walk now.
The boss said: "Kian is a local lad who has come out of the U23s and he has a really good future in the game.
"His ceiling is higher than this level and he’s had 20-odd starts this season to get used to the level and he’s still inexperienced.
"He spent the first part of the season in the U23s and he was scoring for fun, the level was too easy, but he's come in since December and that’s his ninth league goal.
"It's nice that we've got that option because centre-forwards are hard to come by."
Town's ladies warmed up for their Herts Senior Cup clash with Watford on Sunday with a 2-0 home win in the Eastern Region Premier Division against Luton Town.
There was chances for both teams before Royston took the lead in the first half, a calm finish by Emma Slater as the keeper came out to pressure her.
They had to wait until the second half to kill the game off, and they did that when Annie Georgiou’s free-kick hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced down.
The final at the County Ground in Letchworth starts at 3pm.
The U23’s lost 1-0 at Northampton ON Chenecks in Division One of the Spartan South Midlands League, the hosts claiming the title with the three points.
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