LESS than half an hour had passed since the celebrations started when Jimmy Evans, Knutsford’s chairman, walked out of the front door at Wincham Park.

He had over his right shoulder a bag of footballs, and walked a short distance to put them in the boot of his car.

Moments later, he emerged again carrying more kit.

His is the same ritual after every match.

Except Friday wasn’t any old game; his club had just won the Cheshire FA Amateur Cup for the first time after seeing off Vauxhall Motors.

“Did you enjoy that?” I asked him.

“No!” he shot back, grinning broadly.

Reds edged a close encounter after extra time thanks to David Owens’ penalty with six minutes left.

They had been rewarded for a blistering start when Ben Brooks fired them in front, only for Joe Brandon to restore parity.

It took almost another 90 minutes for the teams to be separated again.

Liam Myers, Knutsford’s reliable spot-kick taker, had been substituted moments before Brooks was hauled down by substitute Josh Brabin after running clear.

Luckily it didn’t matter, for his teammate held his nerve to convert despite the not-so-subtle attempts of two opponents to put him off.

While jubilant, of course, at a historic achievement, relief also permeated Knutsford’s celebrations.

Their players let out a huge collective roar when captain Steve Jenyons, who lives close to the club’s home on Manchester Road, lifted the huge trophy aloft.

Beforehand, co-manager Scott Dignan mused that a victory in this competition was overdue.

After all Reds have claimed three Premier Division titles since 2012, and are on course to add a fourth this time around.

In the same period, they have exited the county cup’s last eight on several occasions.

Evans has often remarked that the Cheshire FA Amateur Cup is an equivalent to the ‘Champions League’ for Cheshire League sides.

He has fretted too that Knutsford’s players realise as much.

“It’s a Holy Grail,” he remarked.

If they were underdogs against foes from the West Cheshire League that had won the competition in 2014, they didn’t care.

Indeed, their swift start made that tag a mockery.

“We think we’re one of the best amateur teams around these parts,” Dignan said last week.

“But this would prove it.”

His players got the message.

During the same conversation on Monday, Evans revealed he had spent time over the weekend studying at the magnificent trophy’s base and carefully compiled his own list of winners since the first edition in 1887.

Knutsford’s name is now one of them.