Hetton Lyons have the perfect chance to get their revenge on Sunday, when they face Coundon Conservative in The FA Sunday Cup Final at Anfield.
The Lyons lifted The Cup in 2006 and were hoping to retain it last season only to suffer a Second Round exit at the hands of none other than Coundon who then went on to win the competition themselves.
That game is still relatively fresh in the memory of Lyons manager Bradley Groves, who is now hoping his team can top off what has been a good season for them so far, challenging for the Durham Sunday League and numerous other cup honours.
“We are all determined to make sure this season is a total success for the football club and continue the excellent standards that we have set ourselves in recent years,” revealed Groves, ahead of Sunday’s clash.
“Having won The FA Carlsberg Sunday Cup two years ago at Anfield, we want a taste of that success again this year in what is turning out to be a busy season for us.
“The FA Sunday Cup has been good for us over the last few years. We have entered it for the last five seasons, won it once and gone out twice on penalties.”
It was via a penalty shoot-out that the Lyons lost to Coundon last season, with a team ravaged by injuries at the time.
“Last season we lost to Coundon Conservative, who we face again this year,” he added.
“We had to field an under strength team because of injuries in the squad then, so hopefully we can do better this year.”
Hetton’s success over the last few years has seen them become one of the top Sunday league teams in the country and they’ve won their league for the last seven seasons and the North East Sunday Cup for the last two years.
Now they’re hoping to add another FA Sunday Cup title to their roll call.
“It does mean a lot for the club and the competition has given us and the Durham and District League, a strong name in the north-east and nationwide,” added Groves.
“We are currently chasing six trophies this season and have scored approaching 250 goals so far. We are hoping to keep that form going in The Final.”