Penistone Church reached their first ever final of the Sheffield Senior Cup with a 2-0 home success over Maltby on Wednesday.
Penistone will now return to Sheffield United's Bramall Lane where they won the Northern Counties East League Cup last season. It could be the first all-Barnsley final in the competition's history if reigning champions Shaw Lane AFC, who beat Church in the last four last season, make it through their semi-final against either Swallownest or Frickley Athletic who are due to play their quarter-final on March 27.
Penistone's semi-final victory continued a superb 16-match unbeaten home record which stretches back to September and includes four draws and 12 wins. Church, who are three places below Maltby in the Northern Counties Premier League, took the lead just before half-time through Nathan Keightley who has been on trial with Barnsley FC this season. The hosts also scored late in the second half when Keightley set up Kieran Ryan to make it 2-0.
Manager Ian Richards said: "It's an unbelievable achievement and huge credit to every single one of the players. You can see the togetherness and the spirit, and the elation when we scored the second goal was great to be a part of. We have a number of local lads in that dressing room and it means a lot to them.
"Other players have joined us from further away this season because they know we are a club that gets to semi-finals and finals and is trying to win trophies. We had good quality going forward against Maltby and we could have scored more. It was a thoroughly-deserved win.We will enjoy the final, and it will be another historic and memorable night in our recent history."
Penistone are eighth in the NCEL Premier with 50 points from 32 matches. Tomorrow they are due to visit fourth-bottom Harrogate Railway who are just above the relegation zone and have lost their last six matches including a 9-1 defeat at Pickering Town last time out.
