Eccleston's bid for glory at Ewood Park

Blackburn Rovers' Ewood Park will play host to the Kinder +Sport Kids Cup Final during the half-time interval of the Championship side's home clash with Leeds tonight.
Eccleston Primary School with Blackburn players Wes Brown and Connor MahoneyEccleston Primary School with Blackburn players Wes Brown and Connor Mahoney
Eccleston Primary School with Blackburn players Wes Brown and Connor Mahoney

Undefeated Eccleston Primary School take on Feniscowles Primary School for the right to represent Blackburn Rovers in the national stages of the competition.

It promises to be a tough final to call. The two stand-out sides from an initial field of 50 school teams have proven to be almost inseparable so far, with their group game on finals day last week ending 1-1, and Feniscowles winning the group on goal difference by just one goal.

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The match will be played as a straight 10-minute fixture, with either outright winner qualifying for the next stage.

However, if the game ends in a draw, Feniscowles will prevail by virtue of their group record.

In any other year, you could have made a case for any of the other four finalists - Balladen, Oswaldtwistle Moor End, St Peter’s Darwen and The Redeemer - to have been a worthy side to go on and wear the Rovers’ colours with pride in the further rounds.

But only one team can represent the club at the Northern Area finals adjacent to Barnsley’s Oakwell stadium in early March.

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The winners of the 12-team contest that day - which will also feature a representative team from Leeds United, among others - will then get to play at Wembley as the curtain raiser to May’s Championship Play-Off Final.

A club spokesman said: “We’re very familiar with exactly how that feels, with Salesbury Primary School having taken us all the way to final glory under the arch in 2015. We’re hoping that Eccleston or Feniscowles will go on to experience the same sensation.”

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