Whalley Juniors U13s 3 Fleetwood Town U13s 1

WHALLEY Juniors U13s made club history on Sunday as they fought their way to a historic victory to win the coveted Lancashire Cup.

More 140 grassroots teams from across the county battled through the rounds and it came down to an East versus West encounter at the Lancashire FA ground in Leyland.

Whalley immediately took the game to the ‘Cod Army’ and the deadlock Matt Stephenson sdrilled home a wonderful long range free kick that flew beyond the Fleetwood keeper .

The goal relaxed the East Lancashire lads as their attractive football continued to flow and they underlined their first half superiority with a second goal.

Jake Connelly whipped in a cross from the left which was pulled intelligently back across the goal by Jake Pennnington for striker Michael Dale to slot home..

Afetr the break, Fleetwood upped tempo and were far more threatening . But those Fleetwood forays were capably dealt with by a strong Whalley defence and goalkeeper Jacob Middleton.

The relentless pressure continued for the opening 20 minutes of the half but Whalley added a third goal with a swift counter attack.

A searching switched cross from Connelly on the left found Harry Wilkinson, who coolly controlled the ball and smashed his shot home.

The goal sparked a frantic final 10 minutes of counter attacking football and which saw Fleetwood’s sustained efforts being rewarded with a penalty, which they duly despatched.

Both sides fought hard, until the relief of the final whistle eventually came, signalling an ecstatic Whalley squad to celebrate a well deserved and notable victory.

The Cup presentation was made by the Lancashire FA and captain Harry Wilkinson lifted the trophy for Whalley in front of a crowd of cheering supporters.

Whalley manager Barry Gregson said: “This is a major achievement for both the team and the club, Lancashire Cup is ‘the big one’ and is a genuine test of quality with teams from across the whole county, and to win it is just fantastic.

“We are having another good season, but this really is the icing on the cake. All the lads deserve it, they have a great team spirit and the play fair and attractive football – and this is their reward.”

The victorious squad included, Jacob Middleton, Matt Stephenson, Finlay Wade, Usman Ditta, Ralf Walsh, Zaid Adam, Owen Hulme, Saul Ashcroft, Harry Wilkinson (c), Jake Pennington, Harry Buckley, Michael Dale, Jake Connelly.

In the past two seasson, Whalley have won the league, cup and tournament wins and a victory in a European tournament in Holland in 2014.