Super Shrewsbury schoolboys fired up for another shot at glory

The final, which will once again be played at Stokes Bet365 Stadium, will be the ninth game of Shrewsbury's unbeaten campaign as they seek to right the wrongs of a 3-1 defeat to Hampton last season.

The team beat Wilmslow High School in the semi-final 3-0 and have set up a clash against Samuel Whitbread Academy on Tuesday, May 7.

Shrewsbury's assistant coach, Will Hughes, said: "It is pretty rare to go back-to-back. We got to the final last year and that was eight games, and this year it is eight so far.

"But we have won 16 out of 17 games over a two-year period in this cup, which is phenomenal.

"The beauty of ESFA is as part of our cup run, we had to go away to Torquay, which was an overnight stay trip for the lads - that was the quarter-final.

"We won that 3-2 which was great, it was a tough pitch with real thick mud, and there was the whole crowd out watching from the other school, to win that 3-2 was brilliant. At this stage, that is probably the highlight of the cup run."

The man who must take the credit for the team's success is Steve Wilderspin - the director of football - who has been in position now for almost eight years.

Hughes added: "He has great footballing pedigree having come from Thomas Telford, and we have also been helped by Iain Sankey who is known locally and is a good football coach and an FA educator.

"Wilders, in terms of his attention to detail and setting up the team, there is no stone left unturned. Whether that be set pieces, patterns of play the way the lads cope in and out of possession.

"The lads have been fantastic and there are maybe six or seven of them who got the experience last year of playing at Stoke and they have a bit of experience to come through the tricky ties.

"It is a really professional programme, we almost have the set up of a small academy with the sports science, strength and conditioning and all that side of things."

The team are captained on the field by Oscar Cooke - the son of former Shrewsbury Town legend Andy Cooke - and he is Mr Consistent according to Hughes.

"Our captain Oscar Cooke has been magnificent," he added. "He has been our most consistent player. He is our right-back and our captain fantastic. He has been our most consistent player this season.

"He is a brilliant leader, he always leads by example, and he has been crucial in several games this season."

Shrewsbury took the whole school with them to Stoke last season to watch the team and they will hope for better fortunes this time around.