Ward's side now face two crunch games in the Evo-Stik League Division One South to firstly secure a play-off spot, then book their place in the higher division.

"That's half the job done," beamed a besuited Ward.

"It was a pretty comfortable victory in the end and Stoke didn't have any clear-cut chances.

"We're delighted to win the cup but now we must go on to win promotion to make it a season to remember."

Stoke may have a mighty consolation next month when a considerably more senior side go to Wembley for the FA Cup final.

Ward said: "We might have won here but Tony Pulis has put the whole city on the map.

"We are all keeping our fingers crossed they can bring home the FA Cup."

Youth team coach Adrian Pennock hopes the first team will encounter a much better pitch than his teenage troops encountered last night.

He said: "I expect the cows will be brought back on to graze when we leave.

"We expect to play a final on a decent pitch but this has been awful for both teams. It was difficult to play any football.

"The match was supposed to have been played at Port Vale and I'm very disappointed we had to put up with a terrible surface. But our congratulations go to Kidsgrove."

Pennock, despite the result, was encouraged by the hard-working performance of his young players.

He said: "We have to remember they are up against some very seasoned players and they never looked overawed.

"It was a disappointing result but they can hold their heads up high."

Kidsgrove started the match on top and Nick Ward forced a save from Dave Parton with a header.

Liam Shotton, watched by his Stoke first-teamer brother Ryan, also tested Parton with a long range shot.

Walker had a gilt-edged chance to open the scoring in the 15th minute after he linked up with Shotton and Tom Urwin, only to see his strike from 12 yards drift wide.

And it was Grove, who had already proved a handful at set pieces, who made a breakthrough in the 36th minute.

Stoke left-back Zack Foster struggled to cope with a long ball from the back and almost inadvertently poked past his own keeper.

From the resultant Urwin corner, Walker made a darting run to the near post and steered the ball past Parton.

Stoke's best spell of the match came early in the second half but Tunji Agbaje and Jordan Richardson's shots from distance were the closest they came to testing Steve Hodgson.

Walker almost made it two when he connected with another cross to the near post by Urwin, but Parton was able to save as Grove held on without too much panic to claim the trophy.

Kidsgrove: Hodgson, Smith, Bridge (Sanders, 77), Ward, Schwarz, Hall, Matranga, Beasley, Walker, Shotton (Haddrell, 84), Urwin. Subs not used: Johnson, Intihar, Charlton

Stoke: Parton, Hall, Foster, Dawson, Roberts-Nurse, Grey, Richardson (Whitehurst, 70), Koroma, Agbaje, Clarkson, Musungu. Sub not used: Bossman