LITTLE Oakley’s footballers have silverware in their sights after booking their place in the Border League Knockout Cup final.

And joint-boss Paul Sadler has admitted his players had extra motivation in Saturday’s semi-final at Holland FC – to make up for the crushing disappointment of limping out at the same stage last season, being thumped 5-0 by Alresford Colne Rangers.

Twelve months on and there was no danger of lightning striking twice.

Instead, Oakley edged a hard-fought contest and recovered after conceding early on, thanks to goals from Mark Palmer and Sam Eldrigde.

“Last season we just didn’t turn up in the semi-final,” said Sadler, who runs the side in tandem with Sean Tynan.

“The boys had the wrong mentality and we spoke about it in our team-talk on Saturday.

“We asked the players how much they wanted to play in a cup final.

“This year, we had another bite of the cherry and it was important to do ourselves justice and not have those same regrets all over again.”

Oakley now face Coggeshall Town in the final, at the Colchester Garrison on May 13.

And Sadler says he and his players will relish the opportunity to return home with some silverware.

“We’ll look forward to it and give our all,” he said.

“It’s been quite a few years since our first team won something.

“Coggeshall are a strong side and we know we’re in for a tough match.

“We’ll be favourites based on league positions but anything can happen in a cup tie.

“You can’t take anything for granted, but if we turn up with the right attitude we’ll have every chance.

“It would be fantastic to win and the boys deserve it.

“They’ve had a really good season.

“They’ve worked hard and improved and they would deserve a moment of glory.

“Our ambition at the start of the season was to finish in the top three and we’re still on course for that.

“Now we’ve gone one stage further than last year by reaching the cup final, so it’s already been a very successful season and there’s still a lot to play for.”