FA Vase

North Shields skipper Kevin Hughes has now set his sights on winning the league after they triumphantly reached the Vase final last weekend.

Shields could still pull off a Vase and League double, but it’s 18 years since a Northern League club managed to pull off that feat, when Whitby Town were successful.

“We can think about the league now, I still think that we’ve got a good opportunity,” said Hughes.

“We’ve got some ground to make up, but it’s possible that other teams can slip up and we can take advantage. After last Saturday, we have to switch off from the Vase, and try and keep our feet on the ground.

“It was an unbelievable feeling when the final whistle went last Saturday. To reach Wembley is something that you can only dream of. We celebrated long into the night, it was a great evening.”

Hughes was aware that there was a big turning point in the game, when at 0-0 on the day, Highworth hit the bar with a free kick, and they claimed that the ball had bounced down over the line.

“I was the last defender, and Highworth claimed that the ball hit the stanchion at the back of the goal and bounced down over the line, but I couldn’t really tell. I was just trying to clear the ball.

“It was a major point in the game, because within a few minutes, Gareth Bainbridge went down the other end and scored. He’s always hopeful that he will score, especially in the Vase. It takes some beating to score as many goals as he has in the competition. He’s the sort of lad who can have a quiet game and then suddenly score.

“Our manager, Graham Fenton, said at the end of the game that it was tremendous that we had reached Wembley, but there’s no point in going there if we’re going to get beat.”

League chairman Mike Amos says that he is “so pleased” for Shields for reaching their first Vase final.

Amos was amongst the 1500 crowd last Saturday at the Daren Perrson Stadium as Shields provided the league with its seventh successive Vase final appearance.

“Shields have done remarkably well,” he said. “When you consider that they reformed in the Wearside League, took a few years to get out of there, and then took ten years to get out of the Northern League second division, they have done very well to get to Wembley in their first season in Division One. They’re still in with a chance of winning the league as well.

“Andy Bowman, the Shields assistant manager, can remember playing for Shields in those Wearside League days when their pitch had just a rope around it. They’ve come a long way since then.

“I was so pleased for all of them, especially officials like Alan Matthews, Dave Thompson and Trevor Campbell, who have all been in office for 20 years. They don’t have any sugar daddies or major benefactors, they all put in a huge amount of hard work.

“They are all walking on air, no-one thought that they had a chance. This is what the Vase is all about, the chance to have a dream of achieving the ultimate, playing at Wembley.”

Amos also said that the 1500 crowd was impeccably behaved. “Everybody was very well-behaved, there wasn’t a ha’porth of bother. There was no offensive language or animosity, nothing. The fans were a credit to the club.”

The Northern League has now had a team at Wembley in 11 of the last 19 Vase finals, with an all Northern League final three years ago. Shields were the last Northern League team to win the Amateur Cup way back in 1969, and there was a gap of 28 years until Whitby got there again for the Northern League in the Vase.

Shields officials travelled down to Wembley for the pre-final meeting with Glossop and the FA earlier in the week, and arrangements for the day are now full speed ahead. Tickets are available on the FA website, price £15 for adults, £10 concessions and £5 for under 16s

Shields’ opponents will be Glossop North End from the North West Counties League, who beat St Austell 2-1 over two legs. They lost in the final to Whitley Bay, the first of Whitley’s three successive wins.