Wembley date caps Kirkham's rise

Kirkham & Wesham from West Lancashire reached the FA Vase final at Wembley on May 11 when they added a 1-0 victory away to Needham Market in the second leg of the semi-final to the 3-2 home victory they gained the week before. Their opponents will be Lowestoft Town, who, like Needham, are a Suffolk team playing in the Ridgeons League. They hung on for a 4-3 aggregate victory away to Whitley Bay, despite conceding three goals inside the first 20 minutes.

Kirkham’s startling rise has been based on developing a new ground that enabled them to join the Vodkat North West Counties League second division this season, having a dedicated chairman, Dai Davis, with the contacts to bring in David Haythornthwaite, a wealthy businessman, as president, and so allowing Mick Fuller, the manager since 1994, the scope to build a talented squad.

Fuller sent out his team to defend — and they did so magnificently on a wind-ravaged afternoon — before introducing tricky and pacy substitutes: Ritchie Allen at half-time and Matt Walwyn with 15 minutes left. In injury time, Allen unselfishly set up Walwyn, the 17-year-old son of the late Keith Walwyn, the former York City and Blackpool striker, to score. When play resumed, Glenn Snell, of Needham, showed his frustration with a late lunge at Tony Keefe and was sent off.

Needham’s consolation was a record crowd of 1,275 for a competitive match at their ground, passed fit last week for possible promotion to step four. Danny Laws, their manager, sensibly gathered his squad away from the Kirkham celebrations to remind them that their season is far from over. They can still win the league and are in the league cup and Suffolk Premier Cup finals.

WALTER GAMMIE