Hotchkiss proud as Easington Colliery lift League Cup with Shildon win
Easington Colliery lifted the Brooks Mileson Memorial League Cup with a 3-1 win against Shildon on Monday.
Olly Hotchkiss hailed his Easington Colliery heroes after they lifted the Brooks Mileson Memorial League Cup with a 3-1 win against Shildon.
The Railwaymen went into the game looking to build on last week’s Durham Challenge Cup final win over Whickham - but it was Hotchkiss’ side that struck first as former Sunderland RCA midfielder Dylan Elliott fired them in front with an effort from just outside of the area that found its way into the net via the crossbar. Jon Weirs got Shildon back on level-terms nine minutes before half-time as an intriguing and nervy second-half was setup.
Parity remained in place until the final ten minutes of the game as the Colliers seized the upper-hand and eventually with two cool finishes from winger Luke Pearn that ensured his side rounded off an overwhelmingly positive season by lifting silverware. Hotchkiss has now led Easington to promotion into the Northern League’s top tier and the League Cup in successive seasons and the Colliers boss believes his side have ‘surpassed expectations’ with their outstanding achievement.
He told The Echo: “I am absolutely delighted for everyone at the club. These players are a dream to work with and we get the best out of them because they have a great attitude, they represent the club with pride and they will give everything for us. We spoke about everyone outside of the club expecting us to lose but we had that belief inside and we fancied our chances. We knew it would be tough but we are a really fit side and we pride ourself on our running power.
“I think the system Shildon play suits us, I thought we could find the gaps and I think we were just all wrong for them. I know they have an eye on the play-offs and I don’t think players ease off in the moment during a cup final. I took over the club when they were eleventh in Division Two and the chairman wanted improvement - but I think we have surpassed expectations and we believe we can beat anyone on our day. We are enjoying the ride.”
Shildon will now focus their attention on their Division One play-off semi-final home tie against Blyth Town on Saturday with the winners facing either Boro Rangers or Newcastle Blue Star in the final.
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