Skipper’s pride at Hornets’ run to Vase’s semis
HEBBURN Town captain Louis Storey has revealed his pride at helping the club reach the FA Vase semi-final for the first time in their history.
The Hornets are currently making the final preparations for their last-four meeting against Southern Counties East League club Corinthian this afternoon.
A win in the one-off tie in Kent would see Kevin Bolam’s side face either Bitton or Northern League rivals Consett in the Wembley final later this month.
This is all new territory for the South Tyneside club after their previous best performance in the competition was achieved when they reached the fifth round in 2019.
Storey can give them experience of the latter stages of the competition as he was part of the South Shields squad which claimed the Vase as part of a historic quadruple three years ago.
The Hornets’ captain said: “It is an extremely proud moment to be part of the journey the club has been on in the Vase.
“I experienced it with another great club in South Shields - it was great to be part of that and it was a massive learning curve.
“I have seen our club grow over the last few years and there are similarities between the two clubs in the fact they want to give back to the community y and have a long-term ng-term plan in place.
“They want nt to put the blocks ks in place to o build on and progress over time.
“Hebburn will be open and honest and say when n the new prooject started, ted, when they bounced unced back under new own owners, South Shields was a structure and a journey to be inspired by. Hopefully continuing our progress in the Vase, and reaching a Wembley final, can be part of that.”
Storey is not no daunted by the fact his side will have t to deal with a lon long journey do down to Kent a and overc come a strong Corinthian side. The Horn nets have b become acc accustomed to life on the road during their run to the semi semi-final fin after seeing off Lower Breck, Vauxhall Motors and Longridge Town on their own patch this season - and the former Newcastle United academy player believes his side has used its away trips to improve its form throughout the run.
He said: “The away form we have experienced is an integral part of how we developed through the second half of the season.
“Those performances gave us confidence as a team and it gave us momentum to build on.
“It is something to use and capitalise on this weekend and put the pressure on Corinthian when we go down there.”
Hornets’ boss Kevin Bolam will have a full squad available for the tie. Full report on the game in Monday’s Chronicle.
The away form we have experienced is an integral part of how we developed through the second half of the season Louis Storey