Super Sports are gearing up for three big ‘cup finals’

Peterborough Sports manager Jimmy Dean (right) and captain Richard Jones celebrate a recent Northants County Cup Final success.

First up is the final Southern Premier Division Central game of the campaign at a dangerous Leiston side on Saturday.Sports will probably need to win that one to secure home advantage throughout the play-offs.Jimmy Dean’s men are already guaranteed a semi-final at the Bee Arena against either Rushall Olympic, Rushden & Diamonds or Alvechurch next Tuesday (April 26, 7.45pm).And a win then would set up the play-off final at the same venue on Bank Holiday Monday, May 2 (3pm), providing Sports better Coalville’s result at Stourbridge on Saturday. Second-placed Sports are above Coalville only on goal difference heading into the final weekend.Coalville gained ground on the city side by winning both Easter games while Sports dropped points in a 1-1 draw at Stourbridge on Saturday before edging past Histon at home on Easter Monday thanks to a second-half Jordan Macleod goal.They fell behind at Stourbridge, but Ky Marsh-Brown equalised before half-time.“We weren’t great in either game,” Dean said. “But winning is all that matters at this stage of the season and we have three cup finals to win now. The play-offs will be a lottery with all four teams having a 25% chance to win them, but the odds do tilt in your favour a bit if you’re at home so Saturday is a big game for us.“We know how tough it will be as Leiston were the first team to beat us this season. They won 2-1 at our place and they’ve won their last three matches 1-0. We expect we will need to win to finish second, but if we do there will be no celebrating because we are straight into an ever bigger game when hopefully the people of Peterborough will come and support us.“We are averaging about 270 for home games which is similar to what Banbury (the Premier Division Central champions) were getting a few years back and now they play in front of 900 every week. We want to capture the imagination of our public like that.”The winners of the play-offs will join the National League North or South Division so the incentive for Sports is huge.