Final isn’t personal for former manager

PETER Rinkcavage and Worksop Town have history in the Sheffield Senior Cup.

The Frickley Athletic boss masterminded a victory over Tigers at Hillsborough in 2007 when he was in charge of Stocksbridge Park Steels.

That summer he moved to Worksop and was back at Sheffield Wednesday’s ground in 2008 as his Tigers took on and lost to Sheffield FC.

He’s now hoping to make it two cup victories in six years, with a win over Worksop on Tuesday in this year’s final – but he insists it isn’t personal.

“It’s irrelevant who we play in the final,” he told the Guardian this week.

“I’ve been back to Worksop a few times, and you get used to it.”

“But we just need to concentrate on ourselves, it’s Frickley’s first final for eight years and we want to get some silverware.”

Rinkcavage believes his men are the underdogs going into Tuesday’s final, despite just seven points separating the two sides in the league this season.

Frickley finished in the relegation zone, but the relegation of troubled Northwich Victoria should see a reprieve for Rinkcavage’s club.

“They’re the favourites,” he said.

“They pay some big money, they have some big names and we’ve probably got a third of the budget they’ve got, but we beat them a few weeks ago so we proved we’re not a million miles away.”

“We just have to stop Worksop from doing what they’re good at.”

Having tasted both success and failure in the final before, Rinkcavage knows more than most what his players will go through and how important attitude is on the night.

“With Stocksbridge, we had just lost out in the play-offs and we were on a bit of a downer, but we came out and played really, really well and deserved to beat Worksop.”

“It’s a great night for everyone when you win.”

“In the final with Worksop we had just played Witton Albion on the Saturday and totally outplayed them, and I think we went into the final a little over confident, and Sheffield were better than us on the night.”

“There’s nothing to enjoy about losing in a cup final.”

And he’s hoping that both sets of fans turn up in numbers to make the final of a sometimes undervalued competition a spectacle.

He said: “I don’t understand people talking about cups as Mickey Mouse tournaments – at our level there are only two cups you have a realistic chance of winning, the League Cup and the Senior Cup.”

“It’s been a while since Worksop won it, or Frickley, it’s important that supporters get behind both teams.”

““They don’t come around very often, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

l AS the Guardian went to print Rinkcavage confirmed that he and assistant Jay Maybury will leave Frickley after the final.