By Ryan Gillham
Blackstars were the first ever winners of the Greenfield Football League Cup, after beating favourites West Auckland Athletic in the final.
Squad members Daniel Fawell, Tom Pollard, Danny Beadle, Adam Francis, Ashton Gale, Tom Robinson and James Smith went into the competition as underdogs but fought through three tricky ties to win the trophy.
First up for the Blackstars were West Auckland United, where they negotiated a penalty shoot-out to proceed.
Blackstars played the North Brit in the semi-finals but once again came out on top in a very close game that finished 2-0.
In the final they were drawn against West Auckland Athletic, who are a well organised side and were probably favourites going into the competition, but they couldn’t seem to break down the defence of the Blackstars side who played on the counter, and were beaten 1-0.
Greenfield community sports manager Michael Rippon was keen to give all league teams an opportunity to win some silverwear.
Michael, organiser of the Greenfield league, spoke of how well the cup went and that he is looking to make it a regular occurrence.
“The cup went really well,” he said.
“It was a well fought competition and I am now looking to run a cup competition at the end of each league season.
“The great aspect of the league is that anyone can beat anyone on their day so all eight teams felt like they had a great chance of winning the cup.”
The new league starts on March 13 and anyone interested in joining the league you can contact Michael on 07879117224.
You can also join the Greenfield Football League Facebook group for updates.