FOLLOWING unbelievable scenes of celebration at the weekend, Eagley are hoping to taste their own slice of Macron magic when they face Pennington in the Hospital Cup final tonight.

The 16 teams entering the competition, which was established in the 1930/31 season, have now been whittled down to the two finalists and, with both sides in mid-table as they see out their league campaigns, this is a chance to land some prestigious silverware.

Eagley have twice relied on penalty shoot-outs to progress to the final.

They saw off Old Boltonians via spot-kicks after their opening fixture ended goalless but were 3-1 winners in the quarter-finals against Elton Vale.

The Eagles’ semi-final, in which they faced old rivals and fellow West Lancashire League side Turton, went to a shoot-out after a 1-1 draw, with Simon Whaley’s men winning 6-5 on penalties to earn their place in tonight’s final at the Macron Stadium.

Pennington, who play in the Manchester Football League Division One, were 4-0 winners against CMB in round one and after victory over Bolton County in the quarter-finals, they were pitted against Stoneclough in the semi-finals.

“We’re really looking forward to the game,” said Eagley’s head of football section, Colin Whaley.

“The lads have done really well in probably the best grass roots football competition we know of, and it’s a competition we haven’t done that well in recently.

“Since we won it in 2013 we have only got past the first round once so it’s great for everybody involved.

“It’s a great chance for both sets of players to play AT the Macron, it’s something that doesn’t come around that often and some will never get the chance to do that again.

“We’re hoping there’ll be a good turnout from our juniors as well as the tennis and cricket sections of Eagley.”

Following relegation from the West Lancashire League’s top flight to Division One last year Eagley were hoping for a swift return to the Premier Division this time around.

However, they sit seventh in the table with two games to go, a trip to GSK Ulverston Rangers on Saturday followed by their final match at home to Kendal County the following Tuesday.

But Colin Whaley is convinced they will stage a stronger challenge next time around and they would be happy to have a terrific ‘consolation’, displaying the age-old trophy in their cabinet for the time being.

“We still want the highest possible finish we can get,” he added.

“It’s not a short-term thing Simon is working on, but he’s found his best formation and we’ve started to turn things around.

“We won’t be taking Pennington lightly, they’ve beaten some good teams, including [fellow Division One team] Stoneclough 3-2 in the semi-final, which I believe came with an own goal late in the game. We knocked out Turton on penalties, and I felt for them because it’s an awful way to go out, I’d have hated to lose on penalties.

“But we’re there and we’ll go and try to put in our best performance of the season. We want it to be a great experience for the players, and the best way for them to enjoy it is if we win.”

n The Hospital Cup final kicks off at the Macron at 8pm tonight.

Entry is £4 with all proceeds going to Kidz2gether, a Horwich-based charity providing support for children affected by autism and autistic spectrum disorders.