Nicholson 'speechless' after Heaton Stannington's historic Senior Cup final win against Morpeth Town

Dean Nicholson admitted Heaton Stannington’s Northumberland Senior Cup final win against Morpeth Town had left him ‘speechless’.

After securing historic promotions into Northern League Division One and the Northern Premier League East Division during the first three years of his managerial reign at Grounsell Park, Nicholson’s side racked up another moment of history with a St James Park win that allowed the Stan to lift the Senior Cup final for the first time in their history.

A penalty shoot-out was required after the two sides failed to find the net over 90 minutes and Stan keeper Lewis Brass made two saves in the shoot-out, with the latter from Danny Barlow allowing defender Dan Groves to hit the decisive spot-kick.

Reflecting on his side writing another entry in the Stan’s history books, Nicholson revealed his pride over the performance his players produced and described them as ‘an absolute credit to themselves and the club’.

He told The Gazette: “I’m speechless. We’ve had a great season, it’s turned into a great season in the end. If someone had told me six months ago this was going to happen I wouldn’t have believed them. That’s football, sometimes these things happen and I’m just pleased it’s happened to us because we have a great bunch of lads in there.

“We competed really well, the league campaign has taken a lot out of the squad and to go and perform like that, on that stage, in front of that many people, on that pitch, it’s just incredible. We were in the second division of the Northern League three years ago and it’s just unbelievable but it’s down to effort and determination and the lads are an absolute credit to themselves and the club.”

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