After the lows of battling relegation over the last couple of seasons and being embarrassingly put to the sword by Stanley Road in a one-sided final at Valley Parade, winds of change are blowing at Oakenshaw.

With most of the successful side of the mid-90s now departed, the club are attracting an array of promising youngsters.

As one of the club's long-serving players striker Gary Owen says, it augurs well for the future for a club with a long, proud history in Sunday football. "It's well known that Oakenshaw are very much a family club and once players sign, a big percentage of them tend to complete their careers here," said Owen. "We've just had the problems a lot of successful teams have when players come to the end of their careers at the same time.

"We've had the odd youngster coming through and last season Liam Kearns and James Flowers made the breakthrough at Premier level.

"Unfortunately both lads are at university at the moment (Kearns is on a scholarship in America and Flowers is at Nottingham).

"This season Richard Marshall has come to the fore as a forward and recently we've introduced 18-year-old Joe Hewitt and another teenager in midfield, James Keane.

"Adam Hughes, who helps run the side with Kenny Wright and Jimmy Lawler, is now involved on the management side with Wibsey's Saturday team and it has allowed Adam, now the longest serving player at the club, the opportunity to witness a lot of young players at first hand."

After a glut of goals in the team's reserve side, Marshall has forced his way into Liversedge's first team and already the youngster has struck up a good partnership with the experienced Owen.

Marshall recently scored four in Oakenshaw's best win of the season, a 5-1 County Cup replay victory against the previous season's semi-finalists Halton Moor.

Another young player, Andy Atkinson, who has had a couple of short spells with other clubs, makes up the third forward, and the club have been impressed with the tenacious tackling of Gareth Wright, not looking out of place in his father Kenny's old position of left back.

Now 30 with a career played as a striker and target man, Owen started out as an apprentice at Bradford City, spending two years there before being released and then teaming up with Terry Dolan at Hull City on a non-contract basis.

He returned to the semi-pro scene in Bradford and had stints with Eccleshill, Thackley, Liversedge and Bradford Park Avenue, who at that time were playing in the North West Counties.

Avenue manager Gordon Rayner converted him to a midfielder, though he later moved back up front, and introduced him to Sunday football with Stanley Road.

A season later he began an 11-year association with Oakenshaw, which was only broken by a two-season drop down the divisions.

"My dad took over the Monkey pub at Horton Bank Top and I joined him when he became involved with the pub's Sunday side, moving back to Oakenshaw when he left," said Owen.

A member of the back-to-back championship side of the mid-90s and a District Cup winner at Valley Parade, Owen may finally have the chance to get his hands on the one prize that his eluded him, the County Cup.

No team has appeared in more District Cup finals but after three unsuccessful finals, countless quarter and semi-finals, the County Cup has yet to be held by an Oakenshaw captain.

This season Oakenshaw are one of five Sunday Alliance teams left in the competition and have a home draw in the fourth round against Wharfedale League opposition Shipley Town.

The way the draw is opening up they may never have a better chance of ending their long wait for the cup.