TIVI boss Ian Long was delighted that his players booked their place in the JW Hunt Cup Final for the second consecutive season following last night’s comfortable 3-1 win over Alvechurch at Castlecroft Stadium.

Luke Paskin, Zac Foster and Karl Edwards wrapped up the victory that now sees Long’s side face Stone Old Alleynians in the final due to be held at Molineux this month.

And Long, who confirmed his players will train throughout next week is pleased Dale’s season remains alive with the possibility of retaining the JW Hunt Trophy.

He said “It was a good win, we’re looking forward to the final at Molineux and hopefully we can defend the trophy.

“Two of our goals were very good from a team perspective, and we played some nice football at times, too.

“Alvechurch did well. I think they were very good for an hour, but then started to tire and that’s when I felt we looked in control of the tie.

“There were some very good individual performances on the night but I thought Sam Williams was terrific. He was the best player on the field by some distance.

“We will now train next week and look ahead to our planned end of season party at Bredbury Hall. All of our players and staff will be in attendance, once again showing the togetherness we have here.”