One of Northern captain James Cole’s catchphrases is “this team wants to win trophies”.

On Monday, it showed with two ruthless performances – or one and a half, at least – which earned them their fourth ECHO Cup.

It was also Cole’s 17th trophy in his 16 seasons as 1st XI skipper, which is testament to both his leadership and the crop of players he has at his disposal.

By the end of this season, it could be 19 or even 20, with two more cup finals and a puncher’s chance of overhauling Ormskirk in the ECB Premier Division.

First up is a trip to Blackpool for the Lancashire Cup final against Formby on Sunday, followed seven days later by the Ray Digman Trophy final at Leigh.

Cole said: “There’s a big few weeks ahead. 

“It’s obviously nice to win a trophy, at home in particular. 

“And it puts us in good stead for, hopefully, another two or three trophies, potentially.”

Northern were excellent as a team on Monday, beating Newton-le-Willows by 26 runs before a convincing seven-wicket win over Widnes in the final.

It was hard to single anyone out – Tyler McGladdery was named player of the match in the final for his unbeaten 45, while Stephen Lucas top-scored in the semi with 81.

Liam Grey took wickets with the first ball of both matches, and 14-year-old Shivy Gautam impressed throughout as he won his first senior trophy.

Cole said: “I thought the first 10 overs in the semi-final were excellent, and then the last 10 overs were quite poor. But then I think we put that to bed in the final.”

McGladdery was on the losing side with Rainhill against Ormskirk in the 2022 finals day, so was delighted to get Northern over the line on Monday.

“I enjoy these moments, with the pressure on,” he said.

“It’s nice to be there at the end, that’s what it’s all about. I think if you’re only chasing a 110 score, you don’t have to go hammer and tongs from the start.

“You can just nudge it and nurdle it around and try and knock the score off and hope people come in and chip in around you.

“I suppose that’s my job, just being there at the end.”

Northern made the most of home advantage, both in terms of their vocal support and their knowledge of the unique dimensions of the Moor Park surface, which has a chunk bitten out of it by a bowling green. 

But having lost the toss for the final having just defended 156 in the semi, they were consigned to 40 straight overs running around it.

McGladdery added: “We did it the hard way as well because we had to field for 20 overs in the heat and then we got sent back out for another 20 overs. 

“It’s intense when you’re playing a finals day like this against good teams. 

“It was good that we did that and then we were still able to get over the line.”