HE DID IT THE COWLEY WAY
Thatcham chief hails Imps-piration
DANNY Robinson hailed Lincoln City manager Danny Cowley as an inspiration after steering Thatcham Town to Wembley for the first time in their 124-year history.
It keeps alive the Kingfishers hopes of a remarkable quadruple of FA Vase, Hellenic League title, League Cup and Floodlit Cup success under their 32-year-old manager.
Robinson has already chalked up some notable milestones after being persuaded at his 21st birthday party to take charge of Winchester City Reserves.
He went on to become manager and led them to the third qualifying round of the FA Cup for the first time in 59 years in 2014.
A year earlier his Alresford side stunned AFC Bournemouth, including Scotland international Ryan Fraser, by lifting the Hampshire Senior Cup.
Reflecting on that qualifier, Robinson told The NLP: “Danny was at Concord Rangers then and I took Winchester there in the FA Cup. They were three divisions above us, but we ran them close.
Philosophy
“After the game we had a chat for about half an hour and I was blown away with his philosophy. I could listen to him all day. He is someone I aspire to be.
“He took Concord into the Conference South, moved on to Braintree and they progressed to the play-offs.
“Now Lincoln are in with a chance of getting into the League Two play-offs and another promotion after Danny, with the help of his brother Nicky, took them up.
“He is someone I want to aspire to be. I want to be the best I can be, and go as high as I can. At the moment that is with Thatcham and I am very happy with the way things are going.”
So too are the James brothers, who were both disillusioned at the turn of the year. Gavin – who played in World Cup qualifiers for St Vincent and the Grenadines – was struggling to get back in the Slough side.
Ashleigh, meanwhile, was thinking of quitting the game after an injury-hit spell at Thatcham, including a broken leg, followed by hamstring, calf and ankle problems.
Gavin scored his first goals for Thatcham in the 3-2 defeat of 1874 Northwich in the semi-final after arriving on dual registration from Slough. To keep it in the family he was replaced by Ashleigh late on in front of their proud parents Bernie and Sharon.
Gavin said: “I suffered a bad tear in my hamstring at Slough and Ashleigh persuaded me to join Thatcham. To get the shirt after Ross Cook’s injury, I had to pay people back.
“It was a bit crazy what happened. Everyone was elated to get to Wembley. To share the moment with my brother and family was special, especially for Ashleigh and the injuries he had suffered. He was in tears.
Reward
“We both won the Hellenic League with Flackwell Heath and have identical scars on our legs. But we have both persevered and now we are getting our reward. It was brilliant to go through, very emotional.”
Ashleigh said on Instagram: “Anyone that knows me knows what I have been through this year on and off the pitch and what a tough time I have had.
“I was working so hard and for some reason things were not going right for me. I came back after a career threatening injury to get injured again and again, and I was on the brink of giving up.
“I am so glad I did not give up because now I will be going to play at Wembley with a great bunch of lads and to top it off with my brother.”