TWO MORE FINALS TO GO

County cups have seen rich pickings for our clubs this season.

Fresh from the all-Ebac Northern League final in the Durham Challenge Cup, two more of our teams have made it through to the final of their respective competitions.

On Monday Boro Rangers take on Whitby Town in the North Riding Senior Cup at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium (7.30pm kick-off).  And then on Tuesday, Blyth Town face Newcastle United u-21s at St James’ Park (also a 7.30pm kick-off).

The games wrap up the 2023-24 season.

Boro Rangers:

The final comes after a league campaign that has seen the club exceed expectations according to manager Ben Wheatley.  “I couldn’t have asked for anything more from the players.  We got off to an unsteady start, getting to grips with playing in Division One, but from September we realised what was needed and what we were up against.”

They finished seventh and were only seven points from a promotion play-off spot in their first year after being promoted to Division One.  “If you had offered that to me at the off, I’d have bitten your hand off, but in the end we had too many draws.  The pace is obviously quicker, players are fitter and sometimes you need to dig in and then take advantage when you’re on top.”

They’re old hands in the competition, having entered several times when they were in the North Riding League.  “We always hoped to be drawn against a Northern League team to test and measure ourselves against.

“Our best performance in this cup run was our 5-0 win at Redcar Athletic – it was a really good performance.  We were 2-0 against Redcar Town and won 3-2 and beat Pickering Town in the semi-final. “The bigger clubs – Middlesbrough, Scarborough and York – were knocked out early, but you can only beat what’s in front of you.”

It’ll be a big day for the whole club, including the junior section who’ll be going along to lend their support.  Most of the players are Boro fans (with the exception of Newcastle fan Stuart Rose).  “It’ll be nice for players to walk out at the Riverside.”

The squad have had a couple of training sessions, in the two-week gap since the end of their league season and preparations for next season will start once everyone’s break.  “We haven’t thought about next season too much – everyone deserves a break – but pre-season friendlies will come round quickly enough.”

Blyth Town:

It’s a busy couple of days for Blyth Town manager Michael Connor.  It’s the Northumberland Senior Cup final against Newcastle United’s u21s on Tuesday night, but before then he’s got another important date in his diary – he’s getting married tomorrow.

Assistant manager Gavin Fell has been on hand to take this week’s training sessions while Michael concentrates on wedding preparations, but will still make the game at St James’ Park.

Fortunately for matrimonial harmony, Town got knocked out of the Vase in the fourth round by Whickham.  If they’d have made it to the Vase final at Wembley, it would have clashed with his wedding.  Michael said: “Louise is very supportive but she laughed when we got knocked out!

“The Senior Cup is massive for us and is the icing on the cake of a great season.  We have come from Division Two of the Northern Alliance and playing in the Alliance minor cup five years ago through to winning the Northern League Division Two.

“The final means so much to us as a club – we have busloads of kids from the club going.

“On the night we have got to be big and brave and play the game not the occasion.  We have a couple of big players missing:  Robbie Dale has retired and Adam Johnson is suspended but we have Dan Wilson and Brandon Slater who have scored 69 goals between them this season.”

They’ve watched their opponents at every round of the competition and Luca Cooper used to be with Newcastle’s u18s and have beaten Whitley Bay, Morpeth and Newcastle Benfield on their way to the final.

“It will be another great memory for our players this season.  I don’t want them to leave anything on the pitch and finish the game without any regrets.  We know it’s an uphill task – we’re playing professional footballers, but we have a lot of good footballers too.”