Six hundred miles and 90 minutes lie between Pickering Town and the quarter-finals of a major national cup.

And The Pikes know they have as good a chance as any of making that place their own tomorrow.

Bubbling boss Alex Mathie, who admits he is quietly confident at his side's prospects, will tonight lead the squad on the 300-mile trek to Dorset and Wimborne ahead of tomorrow's FA Vase fifth-round clash.

He said: "It will be a hard game but we are looking forward to it. It will be great to get through and all the lads are up for it.

"It's been a long time coming and in some ways I wish it was ten days ago because we've had a lot of games since but we are all looking forward to it.

"To win this would be a massive thing for the club. To get to the quarter-finals of a national trophy which started out with more than 500 teams would be fantastic - to get this far we've done well.

"But I believe we have the team to do it and that we can go through and if I'm honest, I'm quietly confident, but I don't know if that's a bad thing to say. I guess we'll find out tomorrow."

Almost all of the backroom staff at the Recreation Ground will be on the coach south, where they will stay the night before returning home - hopefully with plenty to smile about.

Chairman Tony Dunning said: "The beauty of it to me is that most of the people who work behind the doors are the ones that are going and it's great that they are having this big day.

"We're looking forward to seeing the game and we are all in good spirits - the players and the manager are very enthusiastic."

Wimborne have two key weapons in their armoury - form, plus former FA Cup winning goal hero and Premiership star Paul Rideout.

The Cuthbury side, who are managed by ex-Southampton player Paul Arnold, won the Vase in 1992 when they beat Guiseley at Wembley.

They now play their bread-and-butter football in the Sydenham Wessex League division one, where they are currently mid-table.

As with all cups though, there is no such thing as history.

Pickering have already rewritten their record books this season by reaching tomorrow's fifth round stage, and everything else flies out of the window when £2,000, a quarter-final berth and a further niche in club history are at stake.

Updated: 11:05 Friday, February 10, 2006