Truly special day for Woolverstone
WOOLVERSTONE United manager Clive Catchpole said it will be ‘truly special’ for his side to play at Portman Road.
The side from the Shotley peninsula face Thurston in the Parkers Pitches Suffolk Junior Cup Final at the home of Ipswich Town FC on Monday, kick-off 7.30pm.
Catchpole said: “The club are very much looking forward to it and there has been a good buzz at training over the last few weeks.
“The players can't wait to arrive at Portman Road with the bonus of having the home changing room.
“It is a great reward for all the hard work put in by the Chairman Craig Catchpole and head groundsman David Hazelwood who have been associated with Woolverstone United for many years and the committee in general.
“Woolverstone United Football Club have been the talk of the peninsula the last few weeks and we are expecting to have a lot of supporters at Portman Road.
“It will also be lovely to see the under-12 team from Holbrook Hornets being the ball boys on the night.”
Woolverstone will be underdogs against a Thurston side who won Division One of the Macron SIL by a 15-point margin and ended the season with almost three times as many points as their eighth-placed opponents.
Catchpole said: “Every achievement at Woolverstone is celebrated as we are such a small club, and we are very proud to have come from the bottom of Division Three to playing Division One football and winning Division Two on the way.
“This is the first cup run we have had in my tenure and to end up playing the final at Portman Road is truly special.
“Although we are the massive underdogs on the day our players have played together for the last six seasons, and we have immense team spirit.
“Thurston have a team packed with players who have played at a higher level, and we have one. They have dominated Division One this season from the first kick of the ball, so yes, we are definitely the underdogs.”
Catchpole said he will have a couple of messages to give to his players before the final.
“Firstly, I will be telling them to go and enjoy the occasion as they may not get the chance to play at Portman Road again.
“And secondly, I will remind them of a few games where underdogs do win on the day, for example on this very pitch when Maidstone United beat Ipswich Town in the FA Cup this season and I will tell them if they have the belief anything is possible.”
Woolverstone expect to have a full squad available with the exception of skipper David Strike, who is unavailable.
The Woolverstone United squad are pictured above.
