DREW Postlethwaite will have to put friendships on hold as he goes in search of his first trophy as Haverigg skipper.

Haverigg take on neighbours and North Lancs League Division One title rivals Millom in a mouth-watering Sowerby Cup final at Furness CC on Sunday.

With Millom top of the table and Haverigg just four points behind them in third, both sides have one eye on a championship and Sowerby double.

Like many of the Haverigg team, Postlethwaite is mates with a fair few of the Millom players, which could make for an interesting afternoon.

“We are all mates with each other,” said Postlethwaite, who is in his second season as skipper of the Poolsiders.

“After a game on a Saturday you see them out and a lot of us play football together as well, so you are playing against your mates really.

“A lot of years ago I think Haverigg against Millom used to be quite a fiery game but because you are mates with a lot of them you don’t have that any more, it’s more of a laugh than anything else.

“But obviously when you are out on the pitch it’s different and you want to stuff them!”

He added: “You want to be in a final and when it’s Millom and Haverigg it’s a little bit more special. Everyone is looking forward to it, not just the players.

“We’ve got a big 52-seater bus coming with us. We haven’t struggled filling it either!

“We got beat in the semi-final last year (to eventual winners Whitehaven) and Millom went to the final and got beat so it’s nice to get there.

“At the start of this year you could see we were in the opposite side of the draw so I was thinking – and I’m sure Ian (Millom captain Ian Swarbrick) will have been the same – if we get through the rounds there’s a good chance we will be playing Millom in the final, so it’s worked out well.”

Haverigg are at full strength, with seamer Dale Graham having shrugged off a hamstring strain. And while Millom have a few absentees, including Swarbrick who is on holiday in Las Vegas, plus experienced pair Michael Gill and Daniel Mackie, Postlethwaite knows they will still be difficult to beat.

“They’ve got a few lads missing but they have got other lads who are capable of stepping in and doing a job for them,” said Postlethwaite, whose side have lost three times to Millom this summer, twice in the league and once in the South Cumbria Twenty20 Cup.

“We’ve been playing well lately, a lot of lads have been performing well and we are really looking forward to it,” he added.

It will be an interesting battle of the professionals between Millom’s Sri Lankan star Sameera Sadamal and Haverigg’s West Indian Dalton Polius, who has scored 51 and 62 respectively against the same opposition this season.

Postlethwaite is relishing the prospect of playing in a final at Furness Park, which, like Poolside, boasts one of the best tracks in the county, as well as excellent facilities and hospitality. I know Furness like to come to Haverigg for the final and we are the same,” he said.

“They always put on a good show, it’s a county ground and Rog (Matt Rogerson) and Sean Thompson always put on good wickets down there and you want to play on a good deck, and it’s going to be all-singing, all-dancing when you get there.”

Haverigg line-up from: Drew Postlethwaite(C/WK), Simon Bickerstaffe, Glenn Chesher, Robbie Evans, Dale Graham, Joe Harvey, Tomas Hawdon, Joe Lovell, Jordan Postlethwaite, Gary Turner, Dalton Polius. 12th man: Liam Ford.

Millom line-up from: Danny Fallows(WK), Michael Wilson, Paul O’Callaghan, Billy Thompson, Michael Holmes, Graham Dawson, Aidan Van Der Vyver, Oliver Pachul, Robbie Wilson, Jack Thompson, Sameera Sadamal. 12th man: Luke Ivison.