THE FUTURE’S BRIGHT. THE FUTURE’S ORANGE.

TO reach a county cup final in just your second year since reforming is a fantastic achievement any club would be proud of.

And, although their cup run ended on a sour note as they lost on penalties, Prudhoe Town should hold their heads up for making the final two of the Northumberland FA Senior Benevolent Bowl.

After the Senior Cup, which attracts Newcastle United Reserves and Northern League teams, the bowl is the biggest football competition in the county and is always keenly contested.

For Prudhoe to reach the final, it demonstrates just how far they have come in the short time since re-emerging from a dark place.

When the club folded a few years back, it was a tragedy for the town and many people strove to ensure they came back bigger and stronger.

Their debut year in the Wearside League last term allowed them to find their feet, and it took them a while to adjust as they finished second bottom after a long, hard season.

This year has seen a marked improvement courtesy of changes aplenty, and a midtable finish and a county cup final only proves this.

But it can only get better for the Citizens as they look to push on, and a top five finish would not be out of their grasp next year.

In their management team of Tony Boakes and Jackie Traynor, they have contacts coming out of their ears and I would not be surprised to see a few new personnel to help them realise their dream.

And, while there are some cracking players already at Kimberly Park, there are some areas that do need tweaking if they are going to battle it out with the big boys.

Defence has been identified as a weak spot, particularly centre half, and this needs to be shored up as they won’t get anywhere by shipping nigh on 90 goals again.

And this is not to discredit main pairing Lee Best and Andrew Clarkson who have adapted excellently well to the position, but, for me, they are both suited to an attacking role where they were scoring goals for fun two years back.

I have a good feeling about Prudhoe next year and I reckon they can realistically become a force to be reckoned with. Watch this space.