Harwich sat third (they would finish a place lower) with Tiptree third from bottom. In addition, the high-fliers had banged in 11 goals in three games en route to the final, conceding only one.

Still, Harwich had been wobbling – they’d won just three of their previous eight games ahead of the final which would be played at Chelmsford City. Their New Writtle Street ground – demolished in 1997 and now a combination of housing and a leisure centre - was something of a behemoth in non-league terms, boasting a large stand down one side where many Shrimpers supporters gathered as their team took to the field.

Few of the hardcore fans could have envisaged such a climax to the season given the way it had begun. A run of five games without a goal early in the campaign hardly suggested silverware would be lifted in April but, under the management of Richie Powling, Harwich soon hit an upward curve.

Powling had played more than 50 times for Arsenal during his career as a defender, one which was cruelly cut short in his mid-20s by injury.

But having played in the same team as the likes of World Cup winner Alan Ball, Liam Brady and David O’Leary, and been managed by the legendary Bertie Mee, he brought plenty to the table at the Royal Oak.

Not that the success was all Powling’s work. It would be wrong to suggest Harwich’s rise under him was some kind of fairytale.

The playing budget was at its highest level for many years, with successful butchers John Coleman, still plying his trade in Boxted, and the late Jim Warnes among those on the club’s committee at the time.

Still, Powling used that money wisely, creating a team with a strong mix of youth and experience.

It included two ‘proper’ Harwich lads in centre-forward John Wallace, 36 at the time having made his debut at 17, and midfielder Micky Johnson, who had appeared more than 400 times for his hometown club by the time he emigrated to Australia almost a decade later.

Both had played during darker days for the club. So too had Brantham resident Nigel Crouch so it was perhaps fitting that the opening goal that day came from his boot.

Half an hour had been played when winger Ian Brown and Wallace combined to set up Crouch and he found the net with a low drive.

It was a deserved lead and from there I remember a game that Harwich always looked like winning.

Not that Tiptree, who have since merged with Maldon Town to form Maldon and Tiptree FC, didn’t test the Harwich defence but that backline was a strong one, with the centre-half pairing of the experienced Neville Hodge and the youngster Chris Tracey - nicknamed Lurch with his towering height, a la the Addams Family character, and awkward running style - one of the best around at the time.

Midway through the second half, Harwich should have put the game to bed when they were awarded a penalty after a Wallace header was punched off the line.

However, Brown saw his spot-kick saved. He would still finish as far and away the club’s top scorer that season and less than four years later the pacy wide man would be lining up for Bristol City against the mighty Liverpool in the FA Cup. These days he’s back in his hometown of Ipswich working as a tutor at Suffolk One sixth-form college.

Still, if there were doubts emerging in the stands about whether Harwich would see the game out or not, they were not translated onto the pitch.

Instead, the Shrimpers sealed victory with five minutes to go.

Another penalty arrived when Crouch was fouled just inside the box and this time the tub-thumping Murray Osman raced up the field from his left-back position to grab the ball and fire it home.

It capped a man-of-the-match display by the full-back, today a police officer in Ipswich, and clinched the trophy for his side.

Powling created an arguably better team the following season, one which would reach the quarter-finals of the nationwide FA Vase competition, but it would not win a trophy such as this.

Harwich team: Steve Mokler; Peter Grant, Murray Osman, Chris Tracey, Neville Hodge; Nigel Crouch, Micky Johnson, Nicky Lee; Graeme Arnold, John Wallace, Ian Brown. Subs: Mark Ricketts (51, for Grant), Gary Harvey (not used).

Picture caption:

Back row: John Wallace, Chris Tracey, Peter Grant, Ian Brown, Mark Ricketts, Micky Johnson (hidden), Nigel Crouch, Mick Jeffries (physio), Steve Mokler, Jim Warnes (general manager).

Front row: Graeme Arnold, Murray Osman, Nicky Lee, Neville Hodge, Gary Harvey.