SWANS ARE SWIMMING TOWARDS A GLORY RUN
GARY FLINN says Newport Pagnell Town are determined to harness the FA Vase fever that is sweeping their corner of Buckinghamshire.
The Swans are enjoying a club record run and will welcome Hamworthy United in the semi-finals.
Flinn and his management staff always felt their side could have a good run in the competition and booked their place in the last four with a 2-1 away win at Whitchurch Alport.
A big crowd turned up for their fifth round win on penalties against Buckland Athletic – and boss Flinn, who played for the club and has managed Kempston Rovers, says they’d love to keep putting on a show.
“We’ve had a brilliant following this year,” Flinn told The NLP: “We’ve had really good attendances at home – they’ve probably doubled from what we’ve previously had.
“Then we took about 500 people to the away game on Saturday, which is a lot for Newport. At the previous home Vase game we had over 1,100 and for this game we are hoping to have more than that.
“That’s been the big thing for the club. We’re not going to get 1,100 every week, but if we can get an extra 50-100 each week, that’s really important for us to grow the fanbase.
“We’ve got a big youth set-up at Newport. A lot of them have been helping out off the pitch, setting stuff up, the youth teams have been coming down to watch – it’s a been a big community effort from the whole club.
“We started the season and felt we were a strong team so we hoped we could have a good run in it. On our day, with a little more consistency, we think we can give anyone around a good game.
“So our target was to be in the top two and have a good FA Vase run. Obviously in cup competitions you need a bit of luck along the way. But you do also make your own luck.
“We had a slow ten minutes in the last game, but after that we settled down and I think they’d agree we were the better team.
The Swans won’t give up their pursuit of a top two finish in the United Counties League South – and Flinn says arriving for the semi-final in their stride is crucial.
“We’ve got to make sure we are in good form going into the game,” he said. “It’s important. You don’t want to be coming in off the back of some bad performances so the players are playing with confidence and hopefully ready.
“We know they’re really strong – YouTube helps these days! We will get to watch them as well between now and then but we know they’re a powerful team and they’re doing really well in their league.”