Shaw Lane Aquaforce chairman Craig Wood says the FA Vase run has helped increase the interest in his club
Craig Wood hopes Shaw Lane Aquaforce’s magical FA Vase run will continue to boost their ever-growing fan-base as they plot to win at Walsall Wood tomorrow.
Aquaforce are into the last 32 after knocking out the tournament favourites in each of the last three rounds in Runcorn Linnets, West Auckland Town and Shildon.
The win over the latter was played at Oakwell which helped electrify the interest in the Barnsley-based side and the Shaw Lane chairman is full of praise for Craig Elliott’s team, who are four victories away from Wembley.
“When we started out it was a massive thing for the club because it was the first time we have entered a national competition,” Wood told Non League Yorkshire.
“In the second round we knew that Runcorn Linnets were a good side and we rode our luck a little bit so perhaps the result flattered us.
“When we went to West Auckland, in my wildest dreams the best I hoped for on the day was a draw and to get them back to Shaw Lane.
“It started off and it was kind of frantic for the first 20 minutes, but then we rode it out and to come away with a 3-0 was unbelievable.
“To do it again against Shildon and to deservedly do it, it has given everyone within the club a real belief that we can compete with the very best in the competition.
“We never kind of fancied our chances of getting this far. But, as the games have gone we have grown in confidence and there is a real belief that we potentially go all the way.
“It is the first time that a Barnsley side has done well in this competition and there is some real interest in terms of people wanting to know when the fixtures are.
“Shaw Lane Aquaforce are certainly grabbing people’s attention and locally people can’t wait for the next game so it has created a stir in the town.
“When we played at Oakwell there was a lot of local people who have not seen us before and the word we got back was that they were impressed with what they saw.
“Hopefully we see many them come back to Shaw Lane on a regular basis.”
Mr Wood has also spoken of his delight of how Shaw Lane are performing in the Toolstation NCEL Premier Division.
Shaw Lane are currently fourth, but wins in all four of their games in hand over leaders Tadcaster would propel them to the parapet.
Mr Wood said: “In terms of where we are now, I couldn’t be more happier with what we have achieved so far.
“We have lost two games all season and we still in the League Cup and having a great run in the Vase and still within touching distance of the leaders of the league.
“We couldn’t have wished for a better season so far. The most encouraging thing is that as the season has gone on we have grown in confidence and there is a great morale in the dressing room.
“We just have to keep pushing on.
“People forget we are a new club and we’re still learning about the league so we have done really well.”
The only blip this season has been the pitch problems at their Shaw Lane complex.
A Rugby Union game played on the surface in standing water at the end of November damaged it and even now Aquaforce are battling to make it playable.
Shaw Lane could face a huge backlog of home fixtures if the problems remain and Mr Wood added: “Obviously people know we invested heavily in the summer and it was nearly £40,000 that was spent on new drainage.
“We also sand-silted 70% of the pitch. The problem area is under the stand and no-one has kind of identified what exactly the problem is.
“All we can do is get through this season and at the end of the season we are going to put some more drainage down where the stand is and basically go down quite deep and fill it with a sand and soil mix.
“That’s all we can do. It has been very frustrating as when I spent the money to get the work done, it was in the belief we wouldn’t get any games called off for a waterlogged pitch.
“It has been disappointing, but we have to get on with it and get through the season.”