STILL ABLE TO CROWE

Hanover assistant boss knows how important it was to follow up last season with another trophy

HANOVER players are getting quite used to toasting cup triumphs.

To last season’s historic double knockout success you can now add another trophy to the cabinet.

The Brownstown boys made all the noise after a second successive Premier Cup glory under the Friday night lights in Armagh.

Add it to the Bob Radcliffe Cup from last Christmas and the cabinet is now creaking with silverware under Stephen Hyndes’ watch.

Their latest success came at the expense of Richhill AFC who gave it their all in front of a strong crowd huddling against the cold.

Hanover’s tormentor-in-chief was Justin Bradley whose two-goal salvo ensured they keep hold of the trophy for another 12 months. At least.

A club of many heroes, one of the unsung ones is assistant manager Dean Crowe, to many Mr Hanover.

And he was quick to pass the praise back on to the boys in blue who cross the white line.

He said: “The lads have been giving us everything, they trained so hard for the final and I think that showed.

“They have won a couple of trophies now so they know what it feels like.

“And, crucially, they know what it takes to do it.

“Our aim at the start of the season was to win any piece of silverware we could.

“The best teams consistently win things and we didn’t want to be seen as some kind of fluke with what we did last season.

“We’ve done that now and backed it up with another trophy and they’re doing it week in, week out in the league as well.

“The core of the squad has been together for five years.

“And the harmony and spirit in our changing room is probably our biggest asset.

“They’re local lads who socialise together and get on so well and you can see that in games, they’re playing for each other.”

Richhill got their noses in front at Holm Park but Bradley quickly restored parity at the break.

And Crowe hailed the frontman’s impact as crucial in deciding a tight affair.

He said: “We lost Shane Mckinney early in the first half but it shows the quality of our panel that James Sergeant came on to replace him and he’s our captain.

“Credit to Richhill, they started the game better than us and went in front but the good thing was we got our equaliser pretty quickly.

“That allowed us to get them in at half-time and speak to them and I thought after that we controlled it.

“Richhill came at us strongly towards the end but that’s to be expected and we withstood it well.

“Looking at the game as a whole, we only really started when they scored.

“But there were probably three moments of quality in the game – the two goals from Justy and a chance late on for Jake Richardson.

“You can always rely on Justin, especially in the big games. “He’s done it so many times for us. Two chances, two goals.

“That makes such a difference, particularly in finals which are gener- ally settled by fine margins.” Now that the dust has settled on that cup glory, the focus returns to league matters for Hanover.

While in previous seasons their knockout success has come at the expense of Intermediate A matters, it’s a different story this season.

They come into the second half of the campaign sitting top of the heap with 10 wins and just one defeat from 13 run-outs.

That means a six-point gap to second-placed Banbridge Rangers with Crewe the obvious stalking horse lying third as things stand.

This weekend brings a huge fixture for Hanover with a home game against the Gers.

They’ve won eight games in a row in all competitions – a run stretching back to the end of October.

And Crowe believes Saturday’s game will carry all the feeling of another cup final.

“Banbridge Rangers is as tough a fixture as you could have got off the back of a cup final,” he admitted.

“But we will get back to training properly this week. They’ve had their fun, now it’s time to get back to business.

“We know how massive three points would be on Saturday for our tally and also because it would potentially damage Banbridge’s chances.

“But there’s such a long way to go, we’re just looking at chipping away at the games one at a time.”

He added: “We have good momentum behind us with eight wins in a row – a run that includes the final and also a great league win away at Richhill.

“It’s good to have the points on the board and our focus is to add to that at every opportunity.

“The good thing is we’re looking more solid at the back too which is going to be key if we’re to continue to do well this season.”