Shropshire Senior Cup thrown into doubt

Shropshire's top cup competition was today thrown into chaos - as it emerged that AFC Telford United had been withdrawn from the showpiece final with Shrewsbury Town.

County officials had hoped to stage the Shropshire Senior Cup final at the Greenhous Meadow on either April 11 or 27, having been unable to fit it into its usual pre-season slot last summer.

Telford claim they have effectively been excluded from the competitionas they already have seven competitive games in April and are chasing promotion from the Blue Square Bet North.

Evo-Stik League side Market Drayton have accepted an offer to replace the Bucks - but Shrewsbury are now considering their position as they are also in the promotion race from League Two.

Shropshire FA chief executive Roy Waterfield said today: "I empathise with the position of Shrewsbury and AFC Telford as they are both going for promotion and have a great chance to go up automatically.

"But I'd hope the 130-year history of this competition is something that clubs factor in when they commence the season and we want to get the game played.

"Shrewsbury had indicated they could play the game on April 27 and hopefully we'll get some clarity in the next few days."

Telford chairman Lee Carter revealed that his side offered to play the game in both November and February.

"We're annoyed as we have been pushed from pillar to post with this fixture," he said.

"I cannot see how insisting that the fixture is played in April, is good for Shropshire football and it is unfortunate that this decision is going to further diminish the relevance of this competition to the general Shropshire footballing public."

Shrewsbury Town boss Graham Turner said Shrewsbury would be holding further talks before making a final decision.

Turner revealed: "At the present moment we are in discussion with the Shropshire FA.

"If we can fit it in we will do but it cannot disrupt our bid for promotion because it is a crucial stage of the season for us.

"Telford have felt the need to pull out to enhance their promotion prospects but as things stand we are still in discussions."

Drayton, however, are delighted to receive the invite, having originally been controversially excl-uded from the event.

Chairman JulianPartion said: "It's certainly not what we ever expected but it's a chance we'll take with both hands and hopefully do ourselves proud."

By CHRIS HUDSON and ALEX JAMES