Wembley dream becomes reality for Robinson and Thatcham

The Kingfishers overcame 1874 in the last four to set-up Wembley date

DANNY Robinson can hardly believe that he will be leading his team out at Wembley Stadium on May 20.

The Thatcham Town boss saw his players overcome 1874 Northwich to reach the FA Vase final for the first time in the club’s history – where they will face Stockton Town.

After a 3-2 away win at Wincham Park, the Kingfishers secured a 4-2 aggregate win thanks to a brace from Gavin James and one from Shane Cooper-Clark.

After the game, an emotional Robinson said: “Words can’t describe that – they don’t come anywhere near.

“Apart from getting to marry the love of my life, this is up there, I promise you that.”

Around 200 Thatcham supporters and many club members made the long trip to the north-west on Saturday afternoon and Robinson was grateful for the support.

He said: “Full credit to everyone who has travelled up today.

“Full credit to all the committee, the players, the staff – it’s just an unbelievable feeling that we’re going to treasure forever.”

The Kingfishers scored inside the first three minutes of the second leg to ease their nerves and Robinson was thrilled to see them start so well.

He said: “I thought that if we had started bright, if we did get that first goal, it would be massive because we would have had the two-goal advantage.

“It meant that they’d have to come at us a bit more, which would’ve suited us to play on the counter-attack.”

Robinson praised both of his attackers who scored on Saturday, as well as his defenders and keeper Chris Rackley, who had to make a number of crucial saves.

He said: “I’ve got to give credit to the back four, and I thought Racks was outstanding.

“To stand up in what was a cauldron of an atmosphere at the start, I thought we played the game and not the occasion.”

With the FA Vase final not until May, Robinson has challenged his side to continue their superb form by winning the Hellenic League Premier Division.

He said: “The league is massively important.

“We want our winning run to continue and the remit has always been to get out of the league and back into the Southern League.”