Greendale Oak complete Worksop Sunday league and cup double

Sunday’s Dave Crisp Challenge Cup final, played in front of a very healthy crowd at Manton Sports, brought a disjointed campaign to a conclusion that saw Greendale retain their focus and commitment to collect the major honours on offer.

As expected, Kilton made a positive start with their high-energy tactics but Greendale weathered the storm and Tom Mullen found the back of the net with an effort that was ruled out for offside before the league champions opened the scoring on 14 minutes when the impressive Josh Sweetnam fired home from the right, beyond the reach of Rovers goalkeeper Keanan Kirk.

With Kilton’s Matthew Thompson and Greendale captain Jack Billau battling to dominate the ball in midfield, the first half was pretty even.

The second half was similar, scrappy and neither side taking overall control.

The entertainment value was lacking until the 66th minute when Greendale pounced on another mistake as Daniel Wiltshire showed his quality, coming alive to slam the ball into the bottom corner. It was Wiltshire’s 27th goal in 12 starts for Greendale this season and his ability in and around the box has been a major factor in the club’s success. Additionally, he scored in every round of the Challenge Cup campaign.

Kilton’s grit and determination, though, should never be questioned and they continued to battle. Greendale goalkeeper Matt Gray denied Rovers with a superb reaction save but he was powerless to prevent Matthew Thompson reducing the arrears on 83 minutes.

The remaining minutes saw Kilton on the front foot, but they were unable get around the back of the well-organised Greendale defence, part of which was right-back Declan Jacobs, who was named man of the match.

Skipper Billau collected the trophy from the League’s Dave Northage and manager Kevin Cookson carried both the Division One and Challenge Cup back into the Norfolk Street pub to celebrate.

Afterwaerds, a presentation was also made to Dave Crisp in front of a large crowd of spectators, recognising his efforts in local football over the last 50 years.