Dodworth Miners Welfare are the “underdogs” in the huge S&HCSL League quarter-final tie with holders North Gawber on Friday night, according to Darren Young.
All the ingredients are there for an epic battle – the most eagerly-anticipated and biggest grassroots football match in Barnsley since March 2020 – as the two Step 7 giants attempt to book a semi-final tie against fancied Swinton Athletic.
Home side Dodworth have never been able to put Dave Simms’ Gawber to the sword so Young places the visitors as the favourites for the tie (kick off 6.30pm).
“They are the current (League Cup) champions and for all intents and purposes the current league champions and the Sheffield Senior Cup holders,” Young told Non League Yorkshire.
“When you look at past results we drew two of the games and got 4-1 in the other game.
“So we haven’t beaten them since we have been reformed so you would say we are the underdogs.
“When you look at it we’re going up against the treble-winning team. They haven’t changed apart from Matty Thornton (who now plays for Swinton).
“We’re going up against a team that historically we haven’t done our best against. We have competed really well, but not managed to beat them.
“We need to show what we’re about.”
The mouth-watering quarter-final tie has revived the interest in the League Cup which had been waning due to fixture problems.
Young has sensed palpable excitement about the fixture around his squad and the Dodworth village this week.
“It will be a good game to watch,” he said.
“I don’t think it will be a dull game. I think both teams will go for it and it will be a good advert for the County Senior League.
“Other than the Swinton game earlier in the season this is probably our biggest game we’ve had this year. It is certainly the biggest game locally for a while and it is probably the pick of the quarter-finals.
“After people saw this fixture advertised on social media there’s been a bit of a buzz.
“Our lads haven’t played in nearly five weeks and this is a fixture they want to play in.
“It is the same around the village. I’ve bumped into a few people and they’ve said ‘see you Friday’.
“I think it has got people interested in football again and these kind of games do that.”
Dodworth finished playing their Group A fixtures on May 8th and they have had to wait due to Gawber’s Group B double-header with Jubilee Sports being delayed several times.
The situation has been far from fair on Dodworth, but the month break is not something Young will blame if his men do not reach the semi-finals.
“Look, you just have to play the hand you are dealt,” he said.
“The whole idea of this cup was to get teams playing again. That’s what it was there for and that’s what it has done.
“Now looking at it from a selfish point of view as Dodworth it has been a bit awkward because it is not ideal not playing for four weeks before a quarter-final.
“We felt we had a bit of momentum behind us in the last group game against Denaby.
“Anyone who came to watch in the early group games wouldn’t have been worried about us.
“But if they came to watch us against Denaby (in the 5-2 win) we reached levels we were at before the second lockdown.
“To take that momentum away again has made it tough.
“We know what levels we need to be at and we won’t be using not playing as an excuse (against Gawber).
“If we get beat we won’t use the excuse of not playing, it’ll because we weren’t good enough on the day.”