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Teen talent gives Brown headache

tomorrow's FA Cup final with Boulevard (4.00 p.m.).The club will celebrate a memorable occasion when three of their teams step out onto the National Stadium pitch for the Crystal Palace, Women's FA and men's FA Cup finals.

tomorrow's FA Cup final with Boulevard (4.00 p.m.).

The club will celebrate a memorable occasion when three of their teams step out onto the National Stadium pitch for the Crystal Palace, Women's FA and men's FA Cup finals.

However, having both junior and senior teams in the final -- a senior team made up predominantly of teenagers -- means that a difficult decision had to be made regarding 16-year-old first choice goalkeeper Nigel Burgess who is also eligible to play with the junior team.

Yesterday, coach Dennis Brown confirmed that Burgess would play in the Crystal Palace final against North Village, with the more experienced Hewvonnie Brown -- a former Boulevard player -- getting the nod for the FA Cup final against the Blazers.

In their semi-final win over BAA, on the same day that Wolves beat Hotels in the FA Cup semi-final, the Wolves Crystal Palace team played with 10 men but still managed to come from behind to win.

"Being that John Barry Nusum and a couple of other guys are in the senior team we felt it would be to our advantage to have Nigel playing in the Crystal Palace because we used to use our Crystal Palace sweeper as goalkeeper,'' said Brown while acknowledging the disappointment Burgess felt.

"That's all part of the grooming process and certain things you have to accept at times. I think he took it fairly well.'' Forgotten man of the Wolves team, teenager Reo Peniston, will get the chance to have a happy ending to his season. The youngster, who celebrates his 18th birthday on Sunday, was the club's leading scorer earlier in the season but has not played since Christmas when he suffered a knee injury in a junior tournament.

Peniston is now back in training and is included in the 16 for the final.

"If he plays this will be his first game back and plus it is his birthday,'' Brown explained. "I think he was a miss because at that time he was our leading goalscorer. But since he left Khari (Sharrieff) has stepped up his game.'' Not surprisingly there was a buzz around the Hermitage Road area of Devenshire over the past week as the club prepared for their first appearance in an FA Cup final.

Three other Second Division teams have reached the final before -- Academicals in 1970, Warwick United in 1980 and Devonshire Colts in 1988 -- but all lost, so Wolves can still become the first Second Division team to land the cup.

"I've had build-ups to FA Cup finals before but I have never seen the anticipation and enthusiasm as much as I have seen it around Hermitage Road,'' said Brown, who enjoyed cup success with Somerset Trojans.

And Brown knows first hand the importance of conquering the big occasion of a National Stadium final if you are to be successful.

"I've told them it is a bigger occasion and it's how they adapt to the conditions. I feel it's going to be blustery conditions on that day.

"Three Wolves teams up there ...it will be a good family day.'' The Crystal Palace final between Wolves and defending champions North Village begins the day's action at noon, followed by the women's FA Cup final between Wolves Girls and Dandy Stars at 2.00 and the main final at 4 p.m.

Brown insists not gaining promotion could actually work in Wolves' favour as another season in the Second Division will give the young team more time to mature together.

"I feel we had a good season but with the age range of our players we would have been in the same predicament as St. David's,'' said the coach.

"I feel with one more season in the Second Division under our belts when we come up we'll be ready.'' Defending champions Boulevard will provide them with a test tomorrow. And though the First Division team were happy to see them reach the final, there will certainly be no favours on the day.

In the semi-finals Boulevard beat Devonshire Colts 5-3 with Dwight Warren netting four times and they will be favoured to land the cup for the fourth time in the 1990s.

Boulevard, who finished fourth in the First Division, just went through the motions in their final league match against Vasco when they started with Leroy Stevens as striker.

But they were serious enough to come from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 late in the game and with Stevens back in the heart of the defence, the Wolves youngsters can expect to have their work cut out as they try to find a way through.