North Ferriby United

Evo-stik Northern Premier League
Premier Division

 North Ferriby United v Witton Albion
Saturday 29 September  2018
Kick-off 3.00pm

Ferriby play the first of three home games in eight days when Witton Albion visit The Chadwick Stadium on Saturday.

Witton have lost three of their four away league games with their win coming at Whitby. They have scored seven goals and conceded three in those four games. They are unbeaten at home with one win and three draws. scoring three goals and conceding one. They currently lie 15^th in the  table with nine points.

Last  Saturday, Witton had an impressive 2-1 victory over Conference North side  Spennymoor Town. Their cup form is more impressive than their league form as far as scoring is concerned so Ferriby will be hoping that Witton leave that form behind them.

In contrast, Ferriby have had a mixed start. Saturday’s home defeat to Scarborough was their fifth defeat in nine league games. The results do not necessarily tell the full story of Ferriby’s performances. 

Six of the ten games have been against teams currently in the top seven in the league table. That has meant a tough start for The Villagers in what was always going to be a very competitive division. Most of the  defeats have been narrow and with a bit of fortune, some of them could have resulted in a point or even all three.

Tuesday’s game at Gainsborough was a good example of this. Ferriby produced a good and solid all-round team performance but were undone by a sucker-punch on the stroke of half-time. A Ferriby attack broke down in Trinity’s area and the home side broke quickly and effectively to score the only goal of the game.

After the game, manager Chris Bolder commented,

“I think we found ourselves, once again, the right side of the performance and the wrong side of the result.     We were very competitive again and on another day we could have gone away with something.

“Our response second-half was very positive. We took the game to them and they were on the back-foot for  lot of the game. Tonight was good performance.”

There is no faulting the attitude and effort of the team. For those who have watched since the second-half of last season, or even for the dozen or so games this season, the improvement is apparent.

Bolder has his team playing attractive football and they are now creating more goal chances. Once they start to go in, results will improve. Fitness levels are higher and the tea, as a whole, are making fewer mistakes.

The players were somewhat dejected after the Gainsborough game, as Bolder commented

“The lads are sat  in there dejected, but I’ve told them there is a difference in being dejected when you’ve played well and lost and being dejected when you know it’s been a bad performance. Tonight was a good performance.”

The fact that the result hurt the players is also a good sign. It shows their commitment and desire to do well and a degree of confidence in their ability to perform at this level.

As for this Saturday, Bolder comments,

“Witton  Albion  will  once  again  be  formidable  opponents,  especially  with their  recent  result  against  higher  league  opposition  in  the  cup  and  holding Gainsborough  to  a  goalless  draw  in  their  last  league  outing.

“They  have  a  mixed  set  of  results  in  the league  but,  after  watching  numerous  clips  of  them,  they  look  a  very  good  outfit  and  have  players  that  can  hurt  any  team.

“Like  we  have  said  before,  there  are  no easy  games  in  this  division  and  teams have  shown  already  that  anyone  can  beat  anyone.”

Team captain James Piercy adds his thoughts,

“It  was  another  good  performance  from  the  lads against Gainsborough in midweek.However  it  was  another  game  we  again  could  have  even  won  as  we  had  a  couple  of  very  good chances.

“For  me  I  thought  our  two  wingers  Danny  Norton  and  Jordan  Harrison  provided  a  threat  for us  all  night  and  really  looked  dangerous  for  us  in  attack,  so  I  expect  them  to  again  be  a  danger  against Witton.

“We  agreed  a  deal  to  bring  back  Luke  Hinsley and  it’s  great  to  have  him  back. With  him  and  James  Nichols,  we  have  two  out-and-out  strikers  as  we  have  been playing  players  out  of  position  recently  to  accommodate,  so  hopefully  Luke  can  get  amongst  the  goals  for  us.”

The fixture schedule remains hectic but Ferriby really do need to capitalise on this short run of home games if they are to start climbing the table.

As Piercy states, The return of striker Luke Hinsley will increase Bolder’s attacking options and also add some experience to his strike-force.

Bolder should have his full squad to choose from.

Ferriby’s squad: Lewis Exall, Ben Clappison, Ben Leyland, James Willliamson, Jack Smith, James Piercy, Jack Mail, Paul Robson, Jamie Forrester, Joe Lamplough, Dan Nichols, Danny Norton, Charlie Dunkerley, Kent Bannister, Alex Knox, Luke Lofts, James Nichols, Josh Walker, Eddie Rogerson, Luke Hinsley, Johnny Saltmer