North Ferriby United

Evostik Northern Premier League

Premier Division

Farsley Celtic v North Ferriby United

Tuesday 26 February 2019

Kick-off 7.45 pm

Ferriby face a daunting task at third-placed Farsley Celtic on Saturday. Celtic are the third highest scorers in the division and thumped The Villagers 6-0 in the reverse fixture in November. They also have the third best defensive record.

That was a niggly game in which Ferriby played 70 minutes with 10 men following the dismissal of Ben Leyland. It was not until midway through the second-half that Farsley actually got a real grip on the game and Ferriby finally collapsed.

Farsley lie one point behind leaders Warrington Town but have a game in hand. They will be more than eager to claim all three points on Tuesday. Their home record has seen them win nine games, draw four and lose two. They have scored 30 goals and conceded 17 in those games.

Their last outing at home saw them lose 0-1 to Witton Albion. That was something of a surprise result and Celtic will be eager to bounce back on Tuesday night.

Ferriby remain firmly rooted to the bottom of the table and with relegation almost certain. Last Saturday’s defeat to Gainsborough Trinity was another disappointing result. However, there could be no complaints as Gainsborough controlled the game after their first goal.

Ferriby’s players are now playing for little more than pride. Nobody can hide from the poor results this season. Equally, it is hard to deny that the players have worked hard and showed plenty of commitment.

Despite conceding four goals to Gainsborough, it was good to see that none of them, the penalty apart, came from set pieces. For once, Ferriby defended them well.

Ferriby striker Josh Vickers has this to say,

“We played well for the first 20 minutes but struggled after they scored. We didn’t take our chances early on and that made a big difference.

“It was good coming on to play alongside Niah [Payne]. He’s a good player to play. We have to pick ourselves up and go again on Tuesday. I’m looking forward to it. It’s three points up for grabs but we have to turn up with the right attitude and just play football.”
 

Manager Joe Lamplough comments,

“We frustrated Farsley for much of the first game and we have to try to do that again on Tuesday. We know they are a good side that scores plenty of goals so we need to be at our best defensively and full-focussed throughout.

“Their defeat on Saturday will have hurt them and we have to be prepared for a backlash.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of our fans and the one thing they tell me is that they cannot fault the players attitude and work ethic. We have kids who don’t want to play, we have people who want to learn and do well, It’s just nurturing them in the right direction to do the right things.”

Lewis Exall missed Saturday’s game through work commitments and Jake Martindale was suspended. Both will be back in contention on Tuesday.

Ferriby’s squad: Lewis Exall, Lewis Hill, Jordan Windass, Aaron Brettell, Ben Leyland, Jack Smith, Jack Mail, James Piercy, Dan Nichols, Joe Lamplough, Leon Smith, Josh Vickers, Niah Payne,  Jake Martindale, Gary Bradshaw, Callum Harrison, James Nichols, Joseph Robinson, Alex Knox