PAUL Chippendale’s never-say-die attitude to score a goal he had no right in scoring summed up the fighting spirit of a Hurst Green team who lifted its first ever county cup.

To a man, the East Lancs League side hussled and harried their Lancaster opponents and the more they were put under pressure, the more they stood tall.

In truth, Green keeper Wayne Addicott did not have a real save of note to make. But that was down to the sheer hard-work of his team-mates who hardly let Highgrove get a foot in the penalty area let alone get a shot away.

It wasn’t a classic in the sense of free-flowing foot-ball but this roll-your-sleeves-up-and-get-stuck-in spectacle was equally as enthralling.

The defensive trio of Martin Aspinwall, Phil Walker and Tom Bamber were immense, setting their stall out early and making sure nothing get by them.

The injured Simon Tipton (he was withdrawn after 40 minutes) and Oliver Johnson in particular offered width going forward and cover when under attack.

Stuart Malley, Sam Hayes and Chris Leighton provid-ed a blend of power, pace, skill and substance in equal measures.

Up front, Chippendale and Danny Walker served as both the first line of defence and main threat of attack.

And Gary Brunskill, thrown on earlier than expected to replace Tipton, was a rampaging outlet for Green up front and ran himself in to the ground.

Manager Graeme Seedall went further and said it was a true all-round effort, from kit man Peter Hayhurst to supporters who turned out in force.

“It is the club’s biggest achievement and is just reward for a very well run club and everyone involv-ed this season has played their part,” said Seedall.

After Chippendale and Walker all went close, Green took a deserved first half lead when Johnson scored at the second attempt from a Leighton corner.

Highgrove decided they weren’t going to go down without a fight in the second half but this only served to strengthen Hurst Green’s resolve as they repelled everything that was thrown at them.

Then came Chippen-dale’s show of shear bloody-mindiness that summed up the Hurst Green effort.

He charged down a clear-ance from James Booth, raced clear to force a save out of Matty Humpage then showed the determ-ination to fire home the lose ball.

He was rightly mobbed by his team-mates but the real slap on the back was reserved for everyone involved at Hurst Green on the most memorable of nights.