Dabbers boss Parkinson looks forward to Trophy tie

[FF News]

Nantwich Town manager Phil Parkinson is looking forward to the all Northern Premier League clash in the FA Trophy 3rd round as Stourbridge visit the Weaver Stadium this Saturday.

The two sides meet knowing that one team will go onto represent the league in the quarter-finals and sit just three games away from a possible date at Wembley in May.

Parkinson joked: “We have been doing so well against Conference teams so I’m worried now.” He went onto to say: “Stourbridge are one of the strongest teams in our league. They are one of the few teams that try and play football the right way.

Like Blyth I really look forward to these games where your wits are tested as a manager, Stourbridge will pose us problems and I like to think we will for them as well.

“They are similar to ourselves they have a nice blend of pace and technical ability. When we visited their place in the league it was a free scoring game which finished 4-3 and when they came here we beat them 1-0, which was a very tight affair. I was surprised they didn’t come at us more, but I’m sure they will today.

“But it’s a real mouth-watering tie and both teams will be thinking it’s a good chance for us to get into the quarter finals of the FA Trophy. Its stuff dreams are made of really and I can’t believe we have got this far, in terms of teams we had to beat and I think my boys will go and kick on again.”

In recent season Northern Premier League clubs have been making the latter stages of the competition with FC United of Manchester making the quarter finals last season, which is a great advertisement for the Northern Premier League teams.

Parkinson said: “You have a bunch of football clubs in the NPL investing in young talent. I don’t see aging teams, I see teams wanting hungry young lads looking to kick on their football clubs and careers, and it’s a pleasure to be part of at the moment.

The club is hoping for a great turn out on Saturday to cheer on the Dabbers.

Parkinson said: “It will be fantastic I was made up with the attendance last Saturday- 400+ so obviously people are appreciating what we are doing. It feels like it’s been a long time coming in getting people back, when I played here were regularly getting 500.

“I like to think that even though we didn’t win that they saw a team that competes to the end and play some great football and even though we didn’t win I enjoyed watching it. It was a great second half performance and the way we passed the ball around it was a pleasure to watch.”

Parkinson finishes with how far Nantwich have come since him, Sorves, Griggsy and Parksy came in.

“People keep asking me the same question, would I take promotion or a final at Wembley, well that’s easy for me it would be promotion all day. But what a refreshing question for a Nantwich manager to get asked and I think it shows how far we’ve come as a team in just one year.

It’s not how many points do we need to stay up It’s about winning competition and pushing in the league. The fact people are even asking that is a massive step forward in my opinion, if I can keep the majority of this squad together for another season and add one or two who knows what could be achieved.”

Kick off at the Weaver Stadium is 3pm with admission prices as £10 adults and £7 Concessions, please note that due to being a cup game it’s all to pay on the gate. The club would also like to remind supporters to arrive as early as possible in order to avoid delays at the turnstiles and also in order to get a car-parking space. Once the car park is full then please be considerate of local residents when trying to find places to park.

Source: Richard Scott (Nantwich Town FC)

Source