Hyde will not be overawed

Just as Bolton Wanderers proved in the Coca-Cola Cup that the Premiership does not have the only class sides in the professional game, two clubs from beneath the GM Vauxhall Conference have done likewise in the FA Umbro Trophy and reached the last four.

Rushden, of the Beazer Homes League, entertain the holders, Woking, in one of tomorrow's semi-final first-leg ties; while Hyde United from the UniBond League go to Worcestershire to take on the GMVC champions, Kidderminster.

Hyde will be hoping for a good result to take back to their Ewen Fields ground for tomorrow week's second leg - which will be the last match in a Football Association competition to be played on an artificial pitch. Like Queen's Park Rangers and Preston North End before them, Hyde are reverting to grass in the summer at the insistence of the FA.

The club are sorry to see their plastic perish. "It's not just the money it brings in, the pitch has been of great benefit to the local community," Alan Slater, Hyde's secretary, said yesterday. The home leg against Kidderminster is an all-ticket match but, before then, they must concentrate on tomorrow's task.

Hyde are managed by Mike McKenzie, formerly in charge at Winsford and Witton. He has assembled an experienced squad who include his captain, Billy Garton, once of Manchester United, and John McMahon, the brother of the Swindon player-manager, Steve McMahon.

"We've got a down-to-earth bunch of lads here, there's a great team spirit on and off the pitch," McKenzie said yesterday. His side will not be overawed against Harriers, for they have already beaten three Conference teams en route to the last four: Stalybridge, Telford and Runcorn.