Ashington Rovers celebrate winning the Tony Kopp Cup (Photo: John Lines)
Ashington Rovers won the Tony Kopp Cup Final against Billingshurst Thirds at the Rod Gaskin Ltd Stadium, Jubilee Fields, Billingshurst on Friday 1 May.
More than 300 fans enjoyed a nine-goal thriller as Rovers lifted the trophy – open to teams from Division Two (North) and Division Three (North) of the West Sussex Football League – for the first time in 34 years. It was a particularly momentous night for Rovers’ captain Tommy Charlwood, whose dad Lee Blackmore scored the winning goal the last time that Ashington won the Tony Kopp Cup in 1992.
Rovers went into the match following a dominant league campaign that saw them win all 18 of their fixtures as they secured promotion to Division One (North). However, Billingshurst Thirds had also been promoted as runners-up, with Rovers only narrowly edging out their rivals during their previous encounter in April.
Marley Manville fires home Ashington’s second goal (Photo: John Lines)
Spurred on by vocal support, Rovers were quick out of the blocks and took a deserved lead in the eleventh minute. Marley Manville stole a yard on a defender and his cross from the by-line was helped on by Charlwood, allowing Jack Loisy to fire home from close range.
Manville added the second, escaping his man with a deft flick down the right wing before producing a fine strike into the far corner. In a man-of-the-match performance, Manville added the third too, finishing emphatically following a fine attacking run by Loisy on the left wing. However, injury would end Manville’s evening shortly after half-time.
Billingshurst Thirds (Photo: John Lines)
Billingshurst showed more attacking intent in the second half and were a constant threat from set-pieces, with Nick Tilley reducing the arrears with a far-post header. However, they found it hard to break down the Rovers defence – marshalled by father-and-son Stewart and Stan Holmes – from open play.
As Billingshurst pushed forward, they left holes for Ashington’s pacey wingers to exploit. Joe Simpkin was unfortunate to see his shot cannon back off the post after a fine run, but captain Tommy Charlwood was on hand for a simple tap-in. Charles Wiltshire made it 5-1, heading home during a goal-mouth scramble just moments after being denied by Billingshurst ‘keeper, Nathan Miles, who made a string of fine stops in one-on-one situations.
Joe Simpkin was a constant threat on the wings (Photo: John Lines)
Rovers’ substitutes were eager to add gloss to the scoreline and Daniel Barker added another with a smart back-header from a Charlwood free-kick. However, Billingshurst gave their supporters something to cheer with two goals in injury time from Luca Reid and Tilley, making the final score 6-3.
Ben Nicholson, who co-manages Ashington with Luke Haulkham, said: ‘It has been a great season for us, We have been unbeaten in 90-minutes, having only lost out in two other cup competitions on penalty shoot-outs. We have achieved this success with home-grown players who live in the village or surrounding areas, which has given us a great team spirit.’
Report by Ben Morris; Photos by John Lines. Published online on 12 May 2026.