The Fred Quibell Junior Cup Final took place at the LNER Stadium, Sincil Bank, Lincoln on Wednesday 6th May 2026 and in so doing became the first ever Lincoln & District Sunday League Cup Final to be played on an EFL Championship Ground in the League’s 65 year history, thanks to the herculean efforts of Lincoln City, our hosts, during their magnificent Season where they finished League 1 Champions.
On paper this looked to be a most intriguing tie between Shakespeare United, who completed their Season as Division 1 runners-up, and East Drayton FC, a team from Division 2 but a team with 6 more League matches to play, but looking likely for a high placed finish taking into account that they currently remain undefeated in their completed League matches to date. Also, for good measure, they arrived at this final just 6 days after winning the Nottinghamshire Football Association County Sunday Cup after their game with AFC Newark finished even at 4-4 but they ran out winners 6-5 after extra time.
The LNER Stadium pitch looked splendid resembling more of a lush bowling green rather than a pitch that had seen the rigours of a full EFL playing Season of 23 League matches completed on it, perhaps that is why Lincoln City always seem to get drawn away in Cup Competitions to preserve the pitch for our Cup Finals?
As 7pm arrived Referee Amy Barber blasted on her whistle and the first of our Cup Finals got underway with East Drayton attacking the Stacey West end of the ground. As all teams now do, it was a customary backwards pass that started the proceedings.
It was clear from the outset that the large pitch and perfect playing conditions would benefit both teams’ style of play as both teams moved the ball round neatly in the opening exchanges.
East Drayton established early midfield dominance with Clayton Wilkinson showing strongly. He was involved in most of the early midfield exchanges, showing neat control and an eye for a pass on several occasions early on. East Drayton showed good pace, particularly down their attacking left in the opening minutes where good crosses put an early test on the Shakespeare defence which looked as though they could be in for a busy night. Shakespeare skipper, Alex Stephens, looked dominant in the air in defence, managing to get the danger away several times in the first 5 minutes before the early pressure produced fruit in the 8th minute.
East Drayton’s Clayton Wilkinson appeared to scuff his shot from the centre of the goal but the ball evaded Daniel Barnes and his defenders before a last ditch defensive clearance hacked the ball off the line but not before the keen eyed Assistant Referee, Ryan Wood, who was perfectly positioned, adjudged that the ball had crossed the goal line, and so the first goal of the game went to East Drayton.
2 minutes later and East Drayton thought that they had doubled their lead when Joshua Parker got past his man on the edge of the box before firing past Barnes but Referee Barber and Assistant Wood both spotted that Parker had fouled his man and the goal was correctly disallowed.
Parker did double his team’s score with a great finish when he advanced into the penalty box down the left-hand side, producing a powerful crisp finish past Barnes as Barnes advanced to narrow the angle. It was a classy finish by the East Drayton forward which presented Shakespeare with a mountain to climb with only a quarter of the game gone.
Shakespeare always looked threatening in attack and efforts from Liam Bentley and Logan Waby went close as they looked to get back into the game. Bentley in particular looked sharp and one spin on the turn forced Glen Kortkamp in the East Drayton goal to make a smart save in the 27th minute.
The 29th minute saw Shakespeare back in the game when Logan Waby played a lovely ball over to Jordan Waplington who flicked the ball over the head of the advancing Drayton keeper with a deft touch of class. With Shakespeare now back in the game they started finding more space in midfield and Lewis Rowland was unlucky with a shot that crept just wide after he had brought the ball under control with an exquisite first touch.
Shakespeare’s mountain became a whole lot more difficult to climb after 40 minutes when Sam Aitken was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Drayton’s Harvey Graves with Graves clean through and advancing on goal. The challenge by Aitken was right on the edge of the box despite Graves landing inside the area. The team work of Referee Barber and Assistant Referee Wood correctly judged that it was to be a free kick and not a penalty but the resultant free kick had to wait until Aitken had trudged off the pitch. Joshua Parker smashed the free kick goalwards with tremendous power and accuracy only to see the ball crash against the cross bar and rebound out and into safety.
The half time whistle arrived with no more scares for either side and East Drayton took a 2-1 lead into the break but also the advantage of having numerical supremacy when the teams returned for the second half.
The teams returned for the second half after a slight half time delay due to a change of Match Official with 4th Official Phil Dainty replacing an Assistant Referee who was forced to retire with an injury sustained in the first half.
The second half was mainly controlled by East Drayton with a disciplined and structured pattern of play that made good use of their extra man advantage. Credit must go to the Shakespeare boys though who never gave up and who worked tirelessly for the cause.
Joshua Parker added a third Drayton goal on 50 minutes with a deft lob over the keeper when the ball fell to him from 12 yards out.
Harvey Graves, who looked very impressive throughout the match added a 4th on 59 minutes by beating 4 players before finishing expertly under the despairing dive of Barnes.
The 5th goal arrived on 67 minutes when Graves again finished smartly after being put through by Parker but perhaps the best was saved until last when Finley Parker rifled the ball home into the top corner of the net from the edge of the box in the 86th minute to complete the scoring for the evening and to make the scoreline Shakespeare United 1-6 East Drayton FC.
Despite the scoreline Shakespeare United deserve huge credit for the manner in which they competed in this final despite the result not going the way that they would have wanted. It was noted that every Shakespeare player applauded their opponents during the presentation ceremony, just as it should be, but sometimes is not seen in modern day football so well done to Shakespeare United for this.
The presentation was made by Mr Freddie Chambers, Chair of the Lindum Group, our League Sponsors. Mr Chambers was assisted by Imps legends Matt Carmichael and Trevor Swinburne.
Referee, Ms Amy Barber, also collected the Referee Merit Award for Season 2025/2026 which was appreciated by the crowd in recognition of her excellent and consistent performances throughout the Season.
All in all, this was a very good final and was appreciated by all in attendance. It was pleasing to see the event well supported, and the League extends its congratulations and thanks to all involved.
I save the last word for an East Drayton player, Aiden Wiseman, who I met for the first time at the match last night. Aiden is on crutches as a result of an injury that he sustained in his team’s win over AFC Newark in the Nottinghamshire County Football Association Sunday Cup Final meaning that he was unavailable to play in this final. On behalf of the League Management Committee we wish Aiden a full and speedy recovery.
League Secretary.
