Tynan is dreaming of a league and cup double

The Acorns can cement top spot in the Essex and Suffolk Border League premier division with a victory in their final fixture at Hatfield Peverel tomorrow (kick-off 3pm).

And to put the icing on the cake, they are also through to the Knockout Cup final after an exciting 4-2 victory at home to Coggeshall Town Reserves last Saturday.

Ironically, they play Peverel in that showdown too, after their opponents eliminated Wormingford Wanderers 1-0.

The final will be played at Brantham Social Club on April 19 – and Oakley will hope to go into as the reigning Border League champions.

“I’m over the moon to be in this position,” said a euphoric Tynan.

“We’ve got one game left and know that if we win that, we’ll lift the trophy.

“That’s what it’s been about all season.

“It’ll be another tough game but I can’t talk highly enough of my players.

“As well as our performances and results, they’ve also trained so well and it’s very rare that we have more than one missing.

“They’re in it together and the whole club is on the up.

“It’s a pleasure to be manager and the players make my job easy. I’ve just got to keep them level-headed and focused.”

Gas have a superior goal difference so a point may not be enough to win the title, if the Colchester side win their remaining games against West Bergholt (tomorrow) and Coggeshall (April 15).

However, Oakley appear to be in the driving seat and further success in the cup would cap an extraordinary season for the Memorial Ground side, who have already secured promotion to the Thurlow Nunn League.

“If we can do the double it’ll be even better,” added Tynan, whose side remained unbeaten in their dozen home league fixtures.

“The brief from the chairman at the start of the season was that we needed to finish in the top five.

“We’ve already achieved that, but our separate agenda among the squad was to win the league and go up as champions.

“It’s still in our hands and how fantastic would it be to win that cup again, for the second time in three years.

“It’s great to be back in the final.

“We made hard work of it last weekend but our desire, work-rate and togetherness saw us through in the end.”

Saturday’s 4-2 success followed 30 minutes of extra-time, after the tie finished all-square at 2-2.

Jordan Heath scored a hat-trick and he was joined on the scoresheet by Rory Harmon.

Oakley won the Knockout Cup in May 2015.

The Acorns triumphed 1-0 in the final against Coggeshall Town at the Colchester Garrison ground.