Match Preview

North Ferriby FC (H) – Saturday, 13th January 2024

The Opposition
North Ferriby FC were formed in 2019 after the demise of North Ferriby United, who themselves were formed in 1934 and reached as high as the National League before facing Liquidation following which the phoenix club started up.
The new team started out in the Northern Counties East League and gained promotion to the Premier Division in their first completed season, the first two having been abandoned because of Covid.
The 2022/23 season saw them finish top of the Premier Division to get back to the Northern Premier League, where the former team had been at the stage of its demise.

The Villagers started the current season strongly, winning three out of their first four in League and Cup before an inspired Belper Town turned up at the Dransfield Stadium on the 22nd of August.
They got straight back to winning ways in the League with two successive victories but exited the FA Cup at the hands of Prescot Cables, although they did exact revenge by dumping them out of the FA Trophy on penalties.
Successive away defeats in the north east followed but they got back to winning ways on their next trip, at Dunston.
Matlock Town ended their FA Trophy campaign in late October and a busy November saw seven games and lots of goals including a 4-2 win over Grantham, a 0-5 defeat against Ashington, a 9-0 East Riding Cup victory against Hornsea Town and a 4-4 draw at Sheffield.
Recent form has not been great with three defeats out of four.
Seven out of their last nine games have been at home and this is only their second away fixture since November.

A journey of 81 miles awaits them today.

Manager Chris Bolder was in charge of the former North Ferriby club and was handed the reigns of the new club four years ago.
Top scorers Tom Corner and Danny Earl have 12 goals each.

At the halfway point of the season, the Villagers sit within touching distance of the playoff places, in 8th:
Their record reads: P 20 W 10 D 2 L 8 F 36 A 39 Pts. 32
Eleven of those points have come on the road.
Having conceded 39 goals, only four teams have a worse defensive record in the NPL East.

The Nailers
A run of four unbeaten came to an end during the week with defeat at Ashington.
Before that, 1-1 draws with Grimsby Borough and Sheffield were sandwiched by victories over Winterton and Grantham as the Nailers maintained their playoff position.
Ahead of this fixture, Belper sit in 5th place with the following record: P 21 W 11 D 3 L 7 F 44 A 32 Pts. 36.
Kevin Bastos remains clear as top goalscorer with 14, his closest challenger Cam Johnson having now left the club.
Phil Watt has 6 and Rev James, who has also moved on, scored 5. New re-signing Brodie Litchfield has 3 already.

Head to Head
The Nailers met the old North Ferriby United on 28 occasions, all bar one in league matches.
The Villagers were undefeated in the first 16 meetings, winning nine of them.
Belper finally picked up a victory in March 1994, Paul Galloway with the only goal in a 1-0 victory.
This kicked off a good run in the fixture for Belper, who won five out of eight including that one and drew the other three.
However the last two meetings both went the way of North Ferriby United in 2001 and 2005.
The first meeting with North Ferriby FC went the way of the Nailers towards the start of this season, on a warm evening Belper scored in the first half through Kev Bastos, before victory was sealed with late goals from Declan Dunn, Alex Troke and Bastos again in front of a crowd of 473.
Belper's record in the fixture (including both teams) is P 29 W 6 D 12 L 11 F 37 A 49.

Form Guide (League)
Belper Town - (25 Nov) LWDDWL (9 Jan)
North Ferriby FC - (25 Nov) DWLWLL (9 Jan)

Team News
Ben Rhodes remains an injury doubt.

Permutations
Once again the Nailers could end the day in 2nd position with a win and a slip up by Consett at home to Dunston.
We would also need Hebburn vs. Pontefract to end in a draw.
North Ferriby could climb one place to 7th with victory if Dunston are held or beaten.
Newton Aycliffe are ready to pounce if they slip up, although the Villagers can only move a maximum of one place in either direction no matter the result.

Match details
Belper Town vs. North Ferriby FC
Northern Premier League Division One - East Division
Saturday, 13th January 2024 – 3:00pm kick off
Raygar Stadium
Bridge Street
Belper
Derbyshire
DE56 1BA
Tickets: Adults £11, Concessions £7, U11s with paying adult £Free

Follow the match
Live commentary is available with Tom on Radio Belper Town - https://radiobelpertown.mixlr.com
Full coverage on X (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

Game of the day is probably Hebburn vs. Pontefract as the hosts look to close the eight point gap established by Stockton.
Stocksbridge and Grantham will both be desperate for the points at Bracken Moor to pull clear of the relegation spots.

(11th) Bridlington Town vs. Stockton Town (1st)
(15th) Brighouse Town vs. Grimsby Borough (13th)
(6th) Carlton Town vs. Winterton Rangers (20th)
(14th) Cleethorpes Town vs. Sheffield (16th)
(3rd) Consett AFC vs. Dunston (7th)
(2nd) Hebburn Town vs. Pontefract Collieries (4th)
(9th) Newton Aycliffe vs. Liversedge (12th)
(17th) Ossett United vs. Ashington AFC (10th)
(18th) Stocksbridge Park Steels vs. Grantham Town (19th)