MONDAY’S Guardian Cup victory brought about some personal redemption for victorious Greenalls Padgate St Oswalds skipper Mark Hughes.

His side took the trophy after beating neighbours Rylands after a thrilling final at Cantilever Park, with Greenalls eventually winning 5-4 on penalties.

Hughes was one of Greenalls’ successful spot-kick takers and it erased memories of a personal disappointment when he missed a penalty in last season’s semi-final defeat to Vulcan.

“I can’t really describe how I was feeling when I was walking up to the spot,” the Greenalls skipper said.

“After missing in the semi last year, I just didn’t want to let anybody down.

“Thankfully, it went in and the rest of the lads did the business. It was a superb win for everybody involved.

“Rylands are our biggest rivals, so to beat them in a cup final is just something else.”

Hughes is something of a Greens stalwart and has had his fair share of Guardian Cup success, lifting the trophy five times since first winning it in 2009.

However, the skipper feels Monday’s triumph tops the lot.

“This is definitely my best day in football. I can’t remember any of the wins being as good as this,” he said.

“It’s always a competition we target and we’ve got a good history in it.

“The Guardian Cup is massive for teams in Warrington, and to have two Warrington teams in the final was huge.”

Two goals from Gavin Horner inside the first 10 minutes gave Greens the perfect start, but Rylands hit back and strikes from Przermek Staniszewski and Danny Sisson forced an extra 30 minutes.

Chris Rogers looked to have won it for Greenalls in extra time, but Sisson again equalised to ensure the game went to a shoot-out, where goalkeeper Jack Trubshaw was the hero by saving Staniszewski’s effort.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better start to the game by going two up so quickly,” Hughes said.

“We took our foot off the gas and sat back which I guess is only natural when you have a two-goal lead in a cup final.

“Fair play to Rylands, they came back into it and took us into deep waters. We obviously wanted to win it in normal time, but really a penalty shoot-out is the best way to win!”

Following a 2-2 draw with Styal on Wednesday, Greenalls secured their status in the Cheshire League Premier Division for another season with four games remaining.

However, Hughes hopes they can take the momentum from their cup win into the rest of this campaign and beyond.

“I think one more win will make us safe this season. That’s the aim for us now,” he said.

“We want to finish the season strongly and hopefully winning the cup and the buzz that comes with it will help us do that.

“It will give us so much momentum and we want to take that through pre-season and into the start of next season as well.”