EXCLUSIVE - Pershore Town boss Janes insists historic cup win is for supporters - The Evesham Observer

EXCLUSIVE - Pershore Town boss Janes insists historic cup win is for supporters

Evesham Editorial 14th Apr, 2022   0

PERSHORE Town manager Danny Janes insists the Plums’ historic Worcestershire Senior Cup win was for the fans after three coachloads of supporters made the journey to watch their side beat Worcester City on penalties.

Pershore triumphed 4-3 on spot kicks after a 1-1 draw in regulation time with Scott Hammond scoring the winning penalty after Sam Clark’s late stunner sent the game to a shootout.

And the travelling support made themselves heard at Bromsgrove Sporting’s Victoria Ground to help Pershore cause another upset having already dispatched step three Sporting and Redditch United in the two previous rounds.

Janes exclusively told the Observer: “It’s crazy, it’s the first time that we’ve won this trophy, the run that we’ve been on to get there – we feel we really deserve it,




“We knew it was going to be hard, we’re good at penalties, we made it hard work but we’ve won four out of five shootouts now, it was fully deserved.

“The objective when we came in was to try and get the local town back on board with the football club – we only beat Redditch [in the semi-final] because those fans were there.


“We knew there were three coaches coming, you just find another level when they’re here, this performance is for them and this victory is for them, all credit to them for coming here, they made a huge difference.”

The Plums, who play at step six in the Hellenic League Division One, trailed to Demetri Brown’s delicate chip on 68 minutes and were on the verge of defeat.

That was until Clark produced a bolt from the blue to draw Pershore level when he found the top right corner from the edge of the penalty area on 83 minutes with Worcester goalkeeper Adam Harrison unmoved.

Janes said: “Sam Clark – he’s a great player and he’s got that in him. I was actually getting frustrated that he was holding the ball for a bit too long!

“He’s got that goal in him, he’s fantastic, he came of injured last weekend, I was just delighted he got through the game, he saved us and he’s a big player for us.

“They had some half-chances from set-pieces, we controlled the first half, we spoke about a few minor tweaks at half time.

“It was a slow pitch, we knew going downhill would be good, we spoke about if they grabbed that first goal, it was essential that we didn’t collapse, and it happened which was unfortunate.

“You could see in the response, I always knew we’d try and get back into the game, it was slightly tactical but more emotional to control that situation if we did go a goal down.”

A dramatic shootout ensued with five misses in total which included James Baldwin smashing against the bar when first given the chance to settle the tie.

However, Worcester’s Archie Muirhead then hit the post which gave Hammond the chance to write his name into Pershore folklore and he duly delivered to spark wild scenes of celebrations on the pitch.

Pershore clinched the trophy for the first time in their history whilst their step five opponents Worcester, who play one level above the Plums in the Midland Football League Premier Division, have won the trophy a record 28 times.

And the Plums must now turn their attention back to their league campaign, knowing a win this weekend will secure a play-off spot in their final league game of the season.

Janes added: “We always said it was all about next season but the players have done fantastic to put us in a position where we’re competing for something towards the end of this season, I couldn’t be happier.

“We need to enjoy our win, recover and go again on Saturday, it’s really important, if we win this weekend we’re in the play-offs.

“We came in and set high standards, we drive them but the players are fantastic at maintaining them, they’ll enjoy it but if we don’t perform on Saturday we can ruin our chances of the play-offs so they’ll be ready for that.”

Pershore host Hereford Pegasus on Saturday, April 16 with kick-off at 11am at the Community Stadium.

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