Match Details
Toolstation Northern East Counties Football League
Silsden AFC v Sherwood Colliery
Tuesday 15th March
8pm
The Office Interiors Stadium
Match Preview
Silsden take on familiar opponents in the form of Sherwood Colliery this Tuesday, making it the 2nd game in just over a week that the two sides have met.
Last Tuesday’s game saw the Nottinghamshire outfit come away as 2-1 winners following first half goals from Gareth Curtis and Lewis Belgrave. Despite a late goal from Ant Brown, his first since his return, Sils just didn’t have enough to grab an equaliser.
That defeat was followed by Saturday’s disappointment against AFC Mansfield, a goal just three minutes in condemning us to our second consecutive defeat and without a win in four.
Those performances should be the kick the lads need to battle back and return to winning ways in the next fixture. Rotation in the attacking positions could be a possibility with Danny Forrest admitting he’s lucky to have so many “options in the forward line”.
In recent weeks rotation has been necessary with the build up of fixtures and thats likely to continue until the end of the season. Top scorer Jack Normanton has been utilised both up front and on the right wing in the past few games, whilst rotation between Harry Thompson and Kyle Hancock has kept legs fresh in the centre of midfield.
The Silsden player to keep an eye on for this game is Lewis Gardner whose marauding runs from left back have created plenty of problems for opponents in recent weeks and he’ll be looking to create more chances on Tuesday.
Following their 2-1 win over us last week, the visitors went on to beat Staveley MW 3-0 on Saturday, a result which has seen them climb to 4th in the table, just two points of that all important potential second promotion spot. They also have a game in hand on 2nd placed Garforth, so there’s no doubt The Wood will be up for this one.
Whilst our recent form has seen us drop to 14th in the table, the objective is of course still to finish as strong as possible. With 21 points still up for grabs and plenty of games in hand on the teams around us, a top-half finish could still be a potential possibility should the lads re-find the form that had seen them climb as high as 11th just a few games ago.
