Former Cheltenham Town prospect Adam Mace says a potential FA Vase final at Wembley Stadium would be a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity for him and Worcester City.
Mace’s side beat Emley 4-0 in the quarter-final in front of their sold-out Claines Lane, extending their club-record 16 games unbeaten in all competitions.
But before they start dreaming of walking out at the home of English football, they have a two-legged Vase semi-final clash with Great Wakering Rovers to contend with and Mace is set to relish it.
“We know how tough it’s been certainly in the last few rounds,” Mace said.
“Taking on Great Wakering, league form goes out of the window when you’re playing over two legs.
“They’re the obstacle between us and Wembley so we hope we can do it.
“As we know we’ve got about four or five fixtures left to play before we can focus on that.
“It was a great occasion; we handled the set-up well.
“We finally got to play at Claines Lane in front of a sell-out and we matched up to it.
We have been drawn against Great Wakering Rovers (@GWRovers) in the FA Vase Semi-Final.
— Worcester City FC (@WorcesterCityFc) March 11, 2024
The double-header ties are due to take place on Saturday 30th March & Saturday 6th April.
Details on ticketing will be announced shortly. pic.twitter.com/tOq6vqSKQ9
“We were fantastic and made a very good team look fairly ordinary.
“When I’ve tried explaining it to family members, they don’t always understand just how hard it is to achieve something like this.
“People say it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it’s probably not even that, not every footballer gets to make Wembley let alone playing in non-league.
“We’re certainly thinking ahead to a potential final but we’re a couple of good performances away from that now.
“It all starts when we take on Wakering in the first leg, we’ll deal with that when we have a chance away from the league.”
Manager Chris Cornes is giving them no let-up, having beaten Roman Glass St George 2-1 in the first leg of their Floodlit Cup Final.
Mace reveals that despite their win, the gaffer still wasn’t chuffed with their performance.
“When you take Tuesday for example, that was our 16th win in a row in all competitions.
“That was probably the angriest I’ve seen him.
“He’s still proud of our achievements and the opportunities we’ve created so far.
“Whatever happens in the dressing room, stays in the dressing room but he wasn’t happy at all.
“For us it was a bit of a wake-up call, and showed us exactly what he expects from us.
“We’ve got two months of the season and we want to win every one.”
City are next in action against Hereford Pegasus on Saturday, March 16, with Mace expecting another test as they look to close out the remaining league fixtures, having had plenty of rearrangements throughout the campaign.
“Our secretary is pulling his hair out at the fixture list.
“It’s a punishment of our own success really with the amount of games remaining.
“We’ve lost another two weekends in the past six, but that’s the way it is.
“I’m sure people wouldn’t swap an FA Vase semi-final for anything.
“To be in this position in the middle of March is unique and we should be proud of where we are.”
