By PHIL BRENNAN

TOUGH ENCOUNTER: Aidan Chippendale, right, battles for the ball

IT’S 8.30am and the players of Colne FC have two pretty important things on their minds.
England’s rugby aces have just kicked off their World Cup quarter-final against Australia in Japan, but there’s also the small matter of the Lancashire club’s historical FA Cup trip to Gateshead to stay focused on. Sitting alongside the team and the directors on the luxury coach departing their Sovereign Play Stadium, we all head, in great sprits, towards the Newcastle Gateshead Hilton Hotel where ...