Rick Andrews hopes his patched-up Stowmarket Town squad can go into 2019 still challenging on four fronts, writes Alex Moss.

The Old Gold and Blacks booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Thurlow Nunn League Challenge Cup on Tuesday night, beating Godmanchester Rovers 4-1 at Greens Meadow.

With a last-eight clash in the Suffolk Premier Cup already secured for next year, Stow’s focus now switches to the league and the Buildbase FA Vase for the rest of 2018.

A trip to Swaffham Town in the third round of the Vase next weekend is high on the agenda for Andrews’ men, but first they must negotiate a home clash with bottom side Great Yarmouth Town in the Premier Division tomorrow (3pm).

And with his two leading goalscorers, Josh Mayhew and Ollie Canfer, among several players currently on the sidelines through injury, Stow boss Andrews is keen to get to the end of the calendar year with no more injuries.

“It was pleasing to get the win on Tuesday and get into another quarter-final of a cup,” Andrews said.

“It keeps the season interesting. My record in the cups has not been great, so it’s weird how this season, while we’ve not won anything, we’ve had a little bit of a run in most of the competitions, apart from the FA Cup.

“It was a miserable day on Tuesday, but it was nice to see we had another decent crowd and we’re now getting our regulars, like Clem’s Corner Crew, and they make a huge difference with their singing.

“It’s really good and I’m really enjoying it. I just want to thank everyone for their support.

“We’re still alive and kicking and hopefully we can get the rest of the year out of the way without picking up any further injuries.

“Hopefully we can go into the new year in the last 32 of the Vase, in two cup quarter-finals and pushing in the league. If we do that, then it’s not been a bad season so far.”

Stow will be boosted by the returns of Anton Clarke and Ryan Clark tomorrow, while captain Ollie Brown is rated at 50-50 to be fit for the weekend.