Crunch-busting run

New Mills v Norton & Stockton Ancients
The FA Carlsberg Vase
Fifth Round Proper
3pm, Saturday 6 February
Church Lane, New Mills FC
Winning clubs receive £2000 from The FA's prize fund
Click here for fixtures

Norton and Stockton Ancients manager Conrad Hillerby has described his side's FA Vase run as a weapon against the credit crunch, ahead of their Fifth Round tie with New Mills. The Ancients had never been past the Second Round before this season, but victory over the Millers on Saturday will leave Hillerby's side just two matches from a Wembley Final.

With the recession hitting a lot of smaller clubs hard, The FA Vase run has provided the Teesside club with crucial funds and Hillerby does not doubt how important further progression could be to the future of the club.

"The Vase provides a massive boost for the club financially," he said.

"It's our main competition and it brings the bread and butter to the table for us.

"A lot of the small business on Teesside are struggling and we also suffer from that. The first place they look to cut costs is their sponsorship, so The Vase windfall is so important.

"We need it to consolidate in the league."

As well as a timely boost to the club coffers, further Vase progression can benefit the club on the pitch as they battle to avoid relegation from Northern League Division One.

"Of course we must keep our mind on staying up, but a good cup run is also massive in attracting new players," Hillerby said. "That will help us in the league too.

"Getting into the quarter-finals would perhaps suggest to quality players that we are worth playing for. We weren't the most fashionable club, but we've put the work in and are now up there in Northern Premier League and in the Fifth Round of The Vase.

"Of course, it is one game at a time and we dare not think about Wembley. If we get past New Mills and into the quarter-final I might consider it, but, at the moment, it's important to be mentally right and to take one game at a time."