The Cuckoos are confident of waltzing away with a trophy

Football - FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round

Yaxley are determined to end six years of pain by winning a trophy this season. Not since the 2009-10 Hunts SeniorCuphave‘TheCuckoos’ claimed silverware outright, although they did share the Hiinchingbrooke Cup with Royston in 2013 as the final was abandoned because of a serious injury.

But managerBrettWhaley is excited about a season that opens with a home FA Cup tie against HuntingdononSaturday and then a tough United Counties Premier Division clash at home to Holbeach United onTuesday(August 9).

Whaley has returned ‘home’ from Wisbech Town and is committed to delivering success.

“It’s about time we won a trophy again,” Whaley stated. “We made steady progress in myfirstspellasmanagerhere, but we didn’t win anything outright.

“Thathastochangeandwe have assembled a squad capable of delivering success. In Phil Stebbing and Dan Cotton we have two strikers capable of scoring 25-30 goals apiece if they stay fit.

“I have brought goalkeeper Aaron Butcher and centre-back Stuart Wall with me fromWisbechsoweshouldbe strong defensively as well.

“We’ve hadagreat pre-season and scored lots of goals. We beat Spalding 5-2 which wasavery good performance.

“I know friendly results mean little, but we will be starting the seasonfull of confidence.

“Mybiggestconcernwillbe switching from our outstanding 4G surface to a bog of a pitch from week to week, but I’m expecting us to start well.

“We’ll be favourites to beat Huntingdon in the Cup, but Holbeach will be a very hard game. They are always one of the teams to beat in the UCL.”

Yaxley have signed fullback Michael Mackrell from Peterborough Northern Star

Star have a tough FA Cup tie at Eynesbury Rovers on Saturday. Wisbech are at BostonTownwiththewinnersset to meet Peterborough Sports or Gorleston. Holbeach host Swaffham, while Deeping Rangers are at Ely.

Yaxley manager Brett Whaley is expecting another strong season from striker Dan Cotton (blue).