Match Preview

Stocksbridge Park Steels (A) – Tuesday 24th October 2023

The Opposition
Stocksbridge Park Steels are a relatively new club in comparison to others in the League, having been formed as recently as 1986 following a merger between Stocksbridge Works and Oxley Park Sports.
They gained promotion from the NCEL to the NPL in 1996 and have remained there ever since.
Tonight will be one of Belper's shortest journeys of the season at around 42 miles.
This season started well for The Steels, picking up four points from the first two matches. However a disappointing run followed this, three successive league defeats and elimination from the FA Cup at the hands of Cleethorpes.
Things picked up after this with four successive victories, across three competitions including the Sheffield & Hallam Senior Cup, in which they remain with recent 4-1 and 5-2 victories.
Again a bad run followed the good one, with four defeats on the trot, and the FA Trophy campaign ended by Worksop.
Stocksbridge do however come in to the game tonight with back to back wins against Hallam in the Cup, and Carlton in the League.
Their overall record reads P 10 W 3 D 1 L 6 F 16 A 15 Pts. 10 which sees them 15th in the table.
Manager Ian Richards took over in September 2021 and Luke Rawson leads the scoring charts for this season with 9 goals.

The Nailers
No change to the previous update here, with the match on Saturday postponed but the Nailers retaining top spot.
We come in to the match off the back of a disappointing performance and defeat away to Carlton Town last Tuesday, leaving manager Lee Attenborough very unhappy in his post-match interview.
Things had been going well up to that point with three successive league victories, although an early exit from the FA Trophy came amongst them.
Despite the defeat, the Nailers sit top of the table with a record of P 10 W 7 D 0 L 3 F 27 A 14 Pts. 21
Away from home, Belper have won four out of five matches played.
Kevin Bastos leads the way with 11 goals, with Cam Johnson and defender Phil Watt contributing 6 and 5 respectively.
Two further away games – Brighouse and Cleethorpes – follow this match.

Head to Head
Stocksbridge are one of our most faced opponents in recent years.
The teams have met 42 times, with Stocksbridge leading things 21-15 (despite Belper winning the first three) and 6 draws.
Memorable matches include the Presidents Cup Final in 1990/91, a two-legged tie marking the first meetings and Belper emerged victorious 8-1 on aggregate.
In 2002, Belper were 0-3 down and missed a penalty before coming back to win 4-3 at Christchurch Meadow.
A couple of years later Stocksbridge reversed the scoreline at the same ground, Belper being reduced to ten players and Bullimore scoring a hattrick of penalties for The Steels.
The most recent fixture, at Bracken Moor also finished 4-3 to the home side despite Belper leading 3-2 with less than eight minutes remaining.
This is the third time in a row the fixture at Bracken Moor has been played on a Tuesday evening.

Form Guide (League)
Stocksbridge - (28 Aug) LWLLLW (21 Oct)
Belper Town - (28 Aug) WLWWWL (17 Oct)

Team News
Cam Johnson serves a one match suspension while Phil Watt is available for selection again.
New loan signing Rhys Dolan is also in the squad.

Permutations
Victory will keep the Nailers top of the table.
Anything less opens the door for either Carlton or Stockton to move to the summit, they meet this evening at the Bill Stokeld Stadium. Carlton would have to overturn a big goal difference but they do have a game in hand on the Nailers as well.
For Stocksbridge, victory would move them up to 12th. If Bridlington better their result tonight, they will drop a place.

Match details
Stocksbridge Park Steels vs. Belper Town
Northern Premier League Division One - East Division
Tuesday, 24th October 2023 – 7:45pm kick off
Bracken Moor
Stocksbridge
Sheffield
S36 2AN
Tickets: Adults £9, Concessions £6, U16s £3

Follow the match
Live commentary is available with Tom on Radio Belper Town - https://radiobelpertown.mixlr.com
Full coverage on Twitter. Team news, HT & FT scores on Facebook.
Match reports to follow on the website and in the Non-League Paper.

Elsewhere in Division One East
Bridlington Town v Brighouse Town
Carlton Town vs. Stockton Town