THE Worcestershire FA Senior Cup has never had its shortage of dissenters.

Season after season, teams and fans have seen it as little more than an inconvenience that got in the way of real business of league matches, a view that certainly held some sway with just five teams taking part.

But try telling that to Worcester City, who ended their 18-year wait to win the trophy by beating Redditch United 3-1 in the final last weekend.

It might not count for much in the grand scheme of things but it’s a piece of silverware that the club will happily see take pride of place in whatever cabinet they are using at Aggborough these days.

The county FA’s decision to move the competition to pre-season was the right one.

In one fell swoop, they took away the sporadic fixtures in the depths of winter and injected some interest into the warm-up campaign.

Matches that were normally arranged as friendlies between local sides now had a bit of edge to them.

Mercifully, there were also only three substitutions per side rather than the usual raft that blight preseason games for the casual spectator.

Playing the tournament in the summer wasn’t to everyone’s liking but it looks like it’s here to stay.