The FA Carlsberg Sunday Cup
First Round
Sunday 15 October 2007
Winning clubs receive £175
Click here for results

If you score 11 goals in five games you might expect to become a marked man. Not so, apparently, as Birstall Stamford’s Kris Nurse followed up last season’s Sunday Cup heroics with a hat-trick in his side’s opener in this season’s competition.

Birstall Stamford reached the semi-final last season, for the second year in succession, before they fell to the eventual winners Coundon Conservative.

This year they are determined to go even further, with Nurse doubtless to the fore after he proved the difference in a 3-0 victory over Diffusion on Sunday afternoon.

Club Secretary Peter Barnsby admitted that Nurse could prove the catalyst for the team this season after he was awarded the Golden Boot for last term’s success before the game.

“Although we won 3-0, it wasn’t easy as Diffusion are a decent side,” said Barnsby.

“The difference was in the strikers, and Kris has clearly finished this season as he did the last.

“They were nothing spectacular, but they were very well-worked team goals and he has the knack of being in the right place at the right time.

“Kris is certainly an excellent player for us to have.”

And Barnsby admits that Birstall Stamford – and Nurse – will be names that other sides will be desperate to avoid in Monday’s draw.

“People will be wary of us,” said Barnsby. “We aren’t overconfident as we only went into the tournament to play teams from around the country, but the expectations are there as we have a good team.

“The players love the tournament as it is a step out of the norm. There are a lot of good teams and it’s true that there are no easy games, so from that point of view, to get a home draw would be nice.

“We’ve got to the semi-finals for the last two years and we want to go further and showcase what we can do.”

None more so, it seems, than Kris Nurse.