ROUTE One Rovers celebrated a monumental season with an emphatic Bradford District Cup final victory over Athletico, allowing manager Sohail Abbas to describe the trophy as a “huge achievement” for the club.

Abbas, who is in his first season in charge of the amateur side, praised the team in what is their first trophy since he took over last year: “It’s a huge achievement, obviously I spoke to you before coming into the job and don’t get me wrong we’re like every other amateur football club in wanting to win everything, but to be in a position 12 months in to win the District Cup and to be regarded as the best amateur team in Bradford, it is a long way. Especially when you look at some of the teams who won it previously.

“That is where we aspire to be, we aspire to be a step six club. So the fact that we got past the first hurdle which was trying to be the best team in Bradford when it comes to amateur football, I think that we’re going in the right direction.”

Goals last Wednesday came from Mohammed Arshad and Sinmi Oyebanji, as Route One managed their eighth goal in two games of the cup: “It’s been hard work I’ll be honest with you, to get an amateur club together because of the levels and how step six and five are and getting players committed to you. But we’ve worked hard together and it’s a good group that I believe can challenge clubs in higher leagues at the moment, and the people in the background too are big in our success and are great too. The whole club is moving in the right direction, and that’s what we want.”

One of many benefits of reaching the final of the Bradford District Cup was getting to play at Dennyfields, the home of Northern Counties East League Premier Division side Thackley AFC: “Yeah that’s where we aspire to be, and I think the group of players we’ve got are good enough for it.”

Route One have been receiving their plaudits not just from the locals, but also from Manchester United superstar Paul Pogba, who forwarded a message of congratulations for the Bradford-based side.

The Bradford side are also looking for sponsors ahead of their upcoming 2022/23 campaign, therefore if anyone is interested get in touch with routeonerovers@mail.com.

In other news, Guiseley welcomed Steve Kittrick back into the dugout in celebratory terms for the first time in nine years, as the new Lions manager celebrated his return to the club with a crucial three points and 2-0 victory.

The Lions announced that Marcus Bignot, Russ O’Neill and Paul Clayton would also depart the club on gardening leave and that Kittrick had been reinstated until the end of the 2021/22 campaign.

Heading into the fixture, Guiseley were five points adrift of Blyth Spartans and safety, but thanks to goals from Dom Tear and James Gale, the Lions closed the gap to just two points last Tuesday.

Speaking after the game, Kittrick praised the resilience of his newly acquired squad, saying: "It's a great result and it’s great for the fans, but we need three or four more wins."