ALL SMILES AS ADAM’S RAVENS GO FOR BROKE
ADAM STEVENS says Coalville Town will turn up at Peterborough Sports tomorrow with big smiles on their faces.
The Ravens are aiming to reach the National League for the first time.
It’s the latest landmark in the club’s history, just 11 years after reaching the FA Vase final in the same season they won promotion from Step 5.
And it’s been steady progress since then with Stevens, in his second spell at the helm, confident his team will give their all.
“It’s a one-game shootout,” Stevens told The NLP. “The key is to get there where you’ve got a chance to get promotion.
“We’ll be giving it everything we’ve got. We’re enjoying ourselves, to be honest. We enjoyed the other night, we laugh and joke – we’ve got a good bunch. They’re looking forward to it.
“You think where the club has come from and here we are now fighting for a place in the National League.
“It’s built on a good structure, We pay what we can afford within our means. Our fanbase has built up and built up – we had well over 1,200 people the other night and the ground was absolutely rocking. We’ll take a few away with us at the weekend as well.
“It’s amazing. Even after we went to Wembley for the FA Vase final I remember we had 200-odd for the next game but we seem to have secured a steady fanbase.
“We’re attracting a lot of young people down there, which is great for future years as well. It’s a good feel around the club. We’ve got loads of kids teams going all the way through and there’s a real buzz around the town.
“It’s become a proper football club in the community which is great when people feel part of it.”
Coalville are a dangerous proposition for Peterborough Sports to face.
With the division’s top scorer Tim Berridge leading the line, they can also call upoin the former Accrington Stanley attacker Billy Kee.
And they showed their class in midweek as they swept Rushall Olympic aside 3-0 in Tuesday’s semi-final to set up the date with league runners-up Sports, who they finished a point behind.
And Stevens wants one more push.
“I’m really pleased with them,” Stevens said. “Everything we had to do, we did. It was always going to be a tricky game when you play someone in quick succession.
“I’m just delighted to get through. That’s the key. We’ve had a great season. To get in the final, we’re buzzing. It’s up to us, hopefully we can cap it off.”