Garforth Town chairman Brian Close (left) with his manager Graham Nicholas are hoping to add another West Riding County Cup to their trophy cabinet
Brian Close believes reaching the West Riding County Cup final is a “reward” for everyone at Garforth Town.
The shock 2-0 win at Vanarama North giants Harrogate Town on Tuesday completed a whirlwind two weeks at Wheatley Park.
Chairman Mr Close and his consortium bought the club from Rupert Lowe and the news triggered a string of new sponsors arriving at the club.
All good news is coming at the same time for Garforth, who will play in the final for the first time since Steve Nichol led them to glory in 2010.
Mr Close said: “It is a really big boost for us.
“We had hoped to do better in the league, but it is early days for us a club so we have to accept that we have to hope to compete near the top in the future.
“The cup competitions are something different and getting to the final means everything to the club.
“It will be a nice day out for everybody and a bit of a reward for all the hard work over the last two seasons.
“It is also our fiftieth anniversary and the celebrations have been on hold with everything going on so making the final makes it a great year.
“A big well done also has to go to (manager) Graham (Nicholas) and his team.”
Garforth were not expected to beat Harrogate, but goals from Tawanda Rupere and Mark Simpson secured an unlikely win.
Looking back on the famous night, Mr Close said: “I think we throughly deserved the win. I thought Harrogate were disappointing from my point of view, I was expecting more from them because they are a Conference North side.
“The pitch did not help as it was a bit of a leveller because it was very slippy.
“I thought we played some good stuff and had the better chances. I looked at the highlights last night and they didn’t have a lot of chances.
“I would say it was a huge upset though.”
Garforth are due to host Armthorpe Welfare in the Toolstation NCEL Premier Division tomorrow.