MALVERN Town will attempt to clinch their first piece of silverware of the season when they take on Pershore Town in the final of the Worcester Royal Infirmary Cup tomorrow (Saturday, 2.30pm).
Les Jones’ sides’ hopes of capping their campaign off with a trophy appeared to have been dashed after a dispute with Smedley Crooke Cup organisers led the club to pull out of the final.
But in a twist of fate, Town moved a win away from boosting their trophy cabinet after Bewdley Town were unable to play the semi-final of the WRI Cup last Thursday due to a waterlogged pitch.
Bewdley were offered the chance to play at Malvern, but they turned it down, which gifted their opponents a free pass to the final. And Chris Pinder, managing director of the club, said he hoped as many people as possible would turn out at the Langland Stadium to support his side.
“Our players deserve to be rewarded for their efforts this year,” he said. “I’m hopeful can finish on a high and win the Cup in front of our home crowd. It will be a great day for everyone at MTFC and a fitting end to this campaign.”
Town will also go into the final with added impetus after Black Country Rangers knocked them out of the West Midlands Regional League Cup in agonising fashion on Tuesday night.
The writing appeared to be on the wall for Malvern as they trailed Rangers 3-0 at half time following a hat-trick from Nicholas Turton.
But a goal from Matthew Turner at the start of the second half gave the visitors life as Aaron Richards and Lee Hopper netted to level the tie with 15 minutes remaining.
However, just when the match appeared to be going all Malvern’s way, Rangers were awarded a penalty, which Brett Clark dispatched to secure a 4-3 victory.