Last four draw filmed for new show

Under wraps after being made on Wednesday before two of the competition's quarter-finals kick off on Thursday night, the draw will be available for download when the hour long Easter special is released soon after 6pm.

EVO-STIK NPL Show producer and host Ben Hughes oversaw proceedings during the recording of the latest show as the NPL's media officer James Heyes filmed Mid-Cheshire Guardian reporter Andrew Simpson and BBC Manchester and 26Nil commentator Ian Burke making the draw.

The semi-final draw is the first to be recorded for the EVO-STIK NPL Show this season after a number of others since the preliminary round were broadcast live on Facebook and the NPL's social media channels.

After collecting £250 for reaching the quarter-finals, the clubs who book their semi-final berths on Thursday 12 April will bank £500 in prize money. Like 2017 winners Bamber Bridge, pictured, April's cup winners will collect £2,000 with the losing finalists taking home £1,000.

The clubs contesting the last four ties of the showpiece cup competition will also be continuing the EVO-STIK League's backing for The Daniel Wilkinson Foundation since the start of the season with adverts and flyers in the matchday programmes.

Founded by the family and friends of late Shaw Lane defender Daniel Wilkinson after he collapsed on the pitch during an Integro League Cup clash at Brighouse Town in September 2016 and later died, the charity has already raised nearly £50,000 in his name to stop others dying of undetected heart conditions following his tragic death at the age of 24.

A former Hull City youth team star, who also turned out for North Ferriby United, Scarborough Athletic, Harrogate Town, Goole Town and Rushall Olympic, Dan passed away after collapsing on the pitch just under an hour into his side's cup clash and despite the best efforts of medics from both clubs and the emergency services to treat him using Town's stadium defibrillator and administering CPR.

The defender was later found to have the same disease that caused former Bolton star Fabrice Muamba to retire from football in 2012 after collapsing during an FA Cup tie at Spurs.

That incident prompted the Football Association to team up with the British Heart Foundation to subsidise the cost of defibrillators for more than 900 clubs at Steps 1 to 5 following lobbying from a number of competitions including the NPL.

The FA announced in August that the initiative was being relaunched this season following its previous success when more than half the clubs in the EVO-STIK League alone took advantage of the subsidy to purchase the life-saving equipment.

Find out more about The Daniel Wilkinson Foundation via the charity's social media channels and website: Twitter, @dannywilks5; Facebook, thedanielwilkinsonfoundation; Instagram, dwfoundation5; website, thedanielwilkinsonfoundation.org and via email at: contact@ thedanielwilkinsonfoundation.org. To donate, visit: http://mydonate.bt.com/charities/thedanielwilkinsonfoundation.

Images courtesy of Shaw Lane, Brighouse Town & @evostikleague/Twitter

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