Cumbria take on Dorset & Wiltshire at Twickenham tomorrow morning in the Third Division final of the County Championship.

But the 11am kick-off doesn’t worry one of the Cumbrian coaches, Dan Bowman, although it might prove tricky for travelling fans who over-indulge tonight!

Bowman sees it as a positive for a Cumbrian squad looking to make amends for two final defeats in the last six years.

“There’s nothing worse than hanging about waiting for a 3pm kick-off when you’ve been there since the night before,” said Bowman.

“At least, with the 11am start we can be up early, travel to Twickenham, do our preparation and be right into the game.

“We are travelling down on Friday, stopping off at Preston Grasshoppers for a captain’s run and will be staying in the Heathrow area which isn’t far from the ground.”

He and fellow coaches Gareth Hewer, James Gough and Chris Wright, have moulded a squad which they believe has a good chance of easing the pain of two previous Twickenham defeats.

Cumbria lost to Surrey in 2013 and, two years later, were back again only to lose out to Leicestershire.

Bowman recalls: “Back in February we sat down and made a list of the players we would like to have available to us so that we could give it a good go this year.

“That proved successful because the lads we had listed have bought into what we were aiming to do and have readily made themselves available.

“In the three qualifying pool games we have used 28 players, and the hardest part of preparing for the final has been the fact that we have had to disappoint six players who won’t be in the 22 we can use at Twickenham.

“We had everyone there, as you would expect, for the final training session on Wednesday and it went well. We then told them the starting line-up and the replacement bench.”

Dorset & Wilts won the final last year and will be strong opponents, after looking impressive in their progress through the pool.

“I think we will be similar in the way we approach the game – quick across the ground and with some big forwards. It promises to be a good, tight game and will be down to who makes the fewest mistakes,” added Bowman.

“They have been together for two years and obviously experienced the win last season. They will want to repeat that feat. We have two players who were in the final six years ago and five from 2015 so they will know what it’s all about,” he added.

Cumbria’s starting line-up is: Ben Walker (Kirkby Lonsdale), Peter Weightman (Rosslyn Park), Danny Barker (Kendal), Mark Ireland (Sheffield), Dini Noyo (Kendal), Glen Wightman (Kendal), James Telford (Carlisle), Dan Thompson (Kirkby Lonsdale), Tom Graham (Carlisle), Dom Musetti (Kendal), Ben Leacock (Wharfedale), Matthew Atkinson (Aspatria), Matty Houghton (Wharfedale), Henry Wainwright (Carlisle), Gary Hodgson (Aspatria).

Replacements: Jamie McKenzie (Keswick), Ryan Lee (Penrith), Adam Brough (Cockermouth), James Thompson (Kirkby Lonsdale), Kirk Chettleburgh (Kendal), Stephen Nelson (Kendal), Harry Huddlestone (Kirkby Lonsdale).