Richie McLoughlin, manager/secretary and chairman of Albany Northern League club Jarrow Roofing Boldon CA, is sick and tired of hearing that North East non-League football is on the slide, and insists: "We've got a great chance to kick the cynics where it hurts."
Unfancied Roofing beat Frome Town 3-0 on Saturday to join Northern League colleagues Bedlington Terriers in the last four of the FA Vase.
"I am delighted for Bedlington and my own club," said McLoughlin, who saw two goals by Craig Nelson and one from Paul Hodgson set up a trip to GLS Football Hellenic Leaguers Didcot Town in the first leg of a semi-final next Saturday, when the Terriers travel to favourites AFC Sudbury.
McLoughlin, in charge of a squad fourth-from-bottom of the Northern League, said: "I keep hearing stories about the football of today not being as good as it was in years gone by.
"Well, if those stories are true, Bedlington and ourselves have a great chance to silence the cynics by getting to the final and giving the North East a day to remember."
