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Saturday 1st April, 2023. Congleton Town will look to achieve their dreams of playing at Wembley Stadium in this year’s FA Vase final with a win over visitor’s Newport Pagnell Town. It still doesn’t feel real, does it?
90 minutes. So close yet still so far. A huge task awaits The Bears, but a challenge they will relish. The resilience, the fight and the quality they’ve shown all season, let alone in this tournament has been commendable. So what’s to stop them on Saturday?
From the moment Lewis Short’s penalty hit the back of the net in Congleton’s penalty shootout triumph over Bury AFC in the quarter-final, everyone associated with the club has been counting down the days for the visit of Newport Pagnell Town.
The Swans, who stand in the way of Richard Duffy’s side and a trip to the capital, are the current holders of the FA Vase. A 3-0 victory over Littlehampton Town courtesy of a Ben Shepherd double and a strike from Kieran Barnes, saw the United Counties Premier side endure a day to remember at Wembley.
FA Vase 2nd Round – Congleton Town 2-1 Coventry United
Following a first round bye, Congleton’s FA Vase adventure kickstarted with a 2-1 victory over Coventry United in December, courtesy of two goals from Tom Pope.
Coventry United [7th] play in the same league as Newport Pagnell Town [4th].
FA Vase third round – Congleton Town 4-3 Lye Town
Goals from Peter Williams, Tom Pope, George Sankey and a late winner from Ethan Hartshorn ensured The Bears progressed into the FA Vase fourth-round after a seven goal thriller with Lye Town in December.
FA Vase fourth round – Congleton Town 4-0 Pinchbeck United
Pinchbeck United awaited Richard Duffy’s men in the next round, in a game Congleton won in comfortable fashion.
Goals from Shakeel Jones-Griffiths, George Sankey, Ryan Read and Tom Pope secured a 4-0 win and a meeting with AFC Wulfrunians in the last 16.
FA Vase fifth round – AFC Wulfrunians 0-1 Congleton Town
Dan Needham’s first-half goal proved to be enough after a ten man Congleton side had their backs against the walls following the interval with Richard Duffy being dismissed on the stroke of half-time. A defensive performance worthy of winning any game of football.
FA Vase QF – Congleton Town 1-1 Bury AFC (Congleton win 5-4 on penalties)
Renditions of ‘Que Sera Sera’ echoed around the Cleric Stadium when The Bears defeated fellow NWCFL Premier Division side Bury AFC on penalties.
Dan Needham’s first-half stunning strike was cancelled out moments later by Jonathon Hunt.
Jon Beaumont, Tom Pope, Peter Williams, Tom Hampton and Lewis Short all made no mistake from the spot while Dave Parton was on hand to deny Harry Brazel’s penalty.
Speaking to Moorland’s Radio ahead of Saturday’s clash with Newport Pagnell Town, Richard Duffy addressed his confidence in his side while also acknowledging the quality of their opponents:
“We are really looking forward to it. It’s a massive game for the players, fans and everyone behind the scenes. We are just looking forward to it now.
“I went down to watch them [Newport Pagnell Town] a couple of weeks back and they are a strong outfit, there is no getting away from that. They don’t concede many goals, and have a striker that has scored bags of goals this season. It’s going to be a real tough test but one we are looking forward to and one I believe we have a real good chance at.
“We’d love to get it down in the ninety minutes but as you saw in the four QF, all the games went to penalties, so there’s not much in it. But if it does go down to penalties then you’ve just got to take you chances, but I imagine for both teams, we’ll want it settled in 90 minutes.”
Richard Duffy on Congleton Town’s fans:
“The local fans who have turned up every week have been fantastic so let’s hope we can give them a bit of glory on Saturday.”
Moorlands Radio’s Richard Scott spoke to Dave Parton earlier this week and the goalkeeper was full of praise for the fans and reinforces the excitement within the dressing room:
“It’s an exciting time for everyone involved and we have been counting down the days to Saturday!
“They’re [Newport Pagnell Town] going to be coming as heavy favourites but we’ve been decent at home this year, we have a great backing and we fancy our chances. Anything can happen at this stage.
“The fans have been brilliant all season, the Bury game, the atmosphere was unbelievable, us players don’t get that very often in our careers. They’re going to be absolutley huge on Saturday, I know they’ll turn up in their numbers and cheer us on. They’re going to be massive for us.
“I think it would be impossible to not think about getting there [Wembley]. We know it’s going to be a tough ninety minutes, we can’t relax for any of it. It’s impossible not think about it, everyone in Congleton, everyone involved in the team are thinking about it. I know I am.
“But Newport Parnell are a decent team, they’re going to be coming in as favourites but we did it against Bury so there’s no reason why we can’t do it again.”
A reminder that this game is SOLD OUT and anyone without a ticket won’t be allowed in the stadium.
Let’s make history together. Come on you Bears!
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