LITTLE Oakley joint-manager Paul Sadler was delighted to land a home draw after guiding his side to their first Essex Premier Cup semi-final in 26 years.

The Acorns booked their place in the last four courtesy of last weekend’s dramatic 3-1 success at home to White Ensign.

Sadler, who runs the team with Sean Tynan, was invited to help conduct the draw on Wednesday afternoon and was delighted when his side were paired with Springfield.

The teams will meet at the Memorial Ground on Saturday, February 27.

“We’re delighted with the home draw – home advantage is always a big bonus,” he said.

“Any team you draw at this stage is going to be difficult, but hopefully we’ll get the result.”

Oakley won the competition – then the Intermediate Cup – in 1989/90 after a 3-1 success against Stanway Rovers.

And while Sadler wasn’t involved in that era, he hopes his side can be inspired by that success – one of the great days in Oakley history.

“We’re hoping history will repeat itself and we can go on to get to the final,” he said.

“I’m sure the whole club are looking forward to this adventure.

“This season we’ve tightened up at the back a lot.

“We’ve kept more clean sheets already than we did last season. It’s something we’ve been working on and it’s paying off.

“We’re not scoring a lot of goals – we’re nicking goals and that’s what wins you games.”

Springfield beat Great Baddow 1-0 to set up the Oakley match.

The Acorns are seventh in the Essex and Suffolk Border League premier division and have several games in hand on all the sides above, apart from Holland FC.

They visit Hatfield Peverel tomorrow and are unbeaten in 11 league and cup games, having only lost twice in the league all season.

Meanwhile, Oakley’s A team were in Essex and Suffolk Border League division two action and lost 4-2 at home to Brightlingsea Regent A.

They netted a goal in each half through Jamie Eades and Kieran Lammas, both set up by man-of-the-match Brandon Rusby.

However, they were architects of their own downfall as they made too many mistakes to get anything from the game.