Alnwick Town lift the George Dobbins League Cup after convincing win in final

After finishing fourth in the Northern Alliance, the club took on Burradon and New Fordley, who finished two places above them in the league, in the George Dobbins League Cup final at the home of Blyth Town.

The nerves showed in the first half, for both teams, producing a stop-start game.

Alnwick had an early goal by Dominic Hayes ruled out for offside, then went ahead through Martin Roper to lead 1-0 at half-time.

The second half was much more open and Stephen Hall grabbed an equaliser for Burradon two minutes after the restart.

Alnwick then scored twice in five minutes, through a Luke Molloy header and a shot into the bottom corner by George Hedley, to take a 3-1 lead.

Things got a bit more tense for Alnwick when the league’s top scorer, Lee Waugh, grabbed another goal to add to his tally, reducing the deficit to 3-2 with 20 minutes of the game remaining, but goals by Scott Shepherd and a late fifth by Lewis Fairbairn saw Alnwick wrap up the win 5-2, to claim their first silverware in 13 years.

Speaking after the win, manager Richie Latimer praised the players who took part in the final, saying they were “outstanding” and also praised the entire squad, saying: “It takes a full group of players to achieve what we wanted to achieve this season.”

He added the players have been “fantastic all season”, and that: “This win is for everyone.”