SPORTING Club Shepley will be aiming to make up for last year’s disappointment when they contest tomorrow’s Get Smart Insurance Cup final against Pak Rangers at Emley (10.30).
Having lost to Athletico Monkey 3-2 in last year’s showpiece when they were called Black Bull, Shepley will be hoping league form this time plays out, as they scored a 4-2 win over Rangers at Leeds Road Playing Fields in October.
The return fixture is not until May 9, so this is Rangers’ first chance for revenge.
Gary Bradley leads Shepley’s goalscoring charts with 24 goals, closely followed by Danny Simpson and Danny Ingham both with 15.
Damien Sykes (12) and Lyam Gill (11) have also prospered and Scott Sykes has an impressive tally of 12 in 13 games, many as substitute, coming back after a long-term injury.
Shepley are boosted by the return to fitness of captain Daniel Seal after two months out, and he’ll be keen to bolster their central defence.
Farooq Hussain has been Rangers’ most outstanding player this season and will be aiming to orchestrate another victory for player-manager Aamer Hussain’s side.
Lance Hanson is the top scorer, closely followed by Rehan Safeer and Rangers have already defeated Walpole (2-1), Helion (2-0) and Foresters (2-1 after extra-time) to reach the Welfare Ground.
Shepley have beaten Woolpack (6-1), Barge Albion (6-3 after extra-time) and Britannia (2-1).
The final will be refereed by Brian Whitaker, who has been officiating for six years and took charge of the Rollinson Cup final last year.
A self-employed mechanic and president of the Huddersfield Referees’ Association, as a player he had the distinction of winning the Invitation Cup 20 years apart with Rawthorpe and Marsden.
Sporting Club Shepley – Carl Auckland, Matthew Thorp, Sam Haigh, Jason Thorp, Daniel Seal, Scott Fulton, Daniel Ingham, Lyam Gill, Gary Bradley, Damien Sykes, Danny Simpson, Scott Sykes, Sam Denton, James Walters, Jon Lockwood, Lewis Butterfield, Ben Lockwood.
Pak Rangers – Garth Evans, Dawood Hussain, Aamer Hussain, Waqas Raza, Aftab Ahmed, Rizwan Safdar, Farooq Hussain, Aaron Murray, Damien Murray, Hardip Ghossal, Khalid Habib, Fahid Mahmood, Abdullah Aka, Lance Hanson, Rehan Safeer, Qamran Safeer, Robert Kerr, Mohammed Iqbal, Shadid Mohammed, Aamer Ghaffar, Manzoor Hussain (physio).
