Match Preview

Liversedge (A) – Thursday, 25th April 2024

The Opposition - History
When Liversedge Rugby Club ceased to exist in 1910, Liversedge FC were formed.
Within a decade they were Bradford League champions and then went on to dominate the West Riding County Amateur League, with three titles in the 1920s. A further two were added in the 1960s.
They moved to the Yorkshire League in 1972 and they won Division Three immediately. They reached Division One before the League merged with the Midland League.
Like Belper and many other opponents this season, Sedge joined the Northern Counties East League, created by this merger in 1982.
A runners-up spot in Division One didn't bring promotion because of a lack of floodlights at the ground. They made up for this the following season.
At this point the club had still never been relegated and after narrowly missing out on the NCEL Premier Division they won the West Riding County Cup in 1990.
Fast forward to 2005 and the Clayborn slope was removed, giving a new look to the ground and the playing surface was levelled with the assistance of funds from the FA Cup run the previous season (they reached the Fourth Qualifying Round before losing to Coalville).
The NCEL League Cup was secured in 2006 but this time the changing rooms not being up to standard was the reason for missing out on promotion.
In 2020 they were well on course for promotion to the NPL before Covid hit and history looked like repeating itself the following season before a points-per-game system was introduced which took them to the NPL for the first time.
They won the league in their first season, reaching the Premier Division - Step 3.
Sedge suffered their first relegation last season resulting in a drop back to the NPL East.
(Source: Liversedge FC website)

The Opposition - This Season
Sedge started the season in poor form, suffering five defeats out of six (without scoring in any of them) although the other game in that run was a 5-0 victory! North Ferriby ended their FA Cup hopes.
September wasn't much better, with two further defeats and an exit from the FA Trophy at the hands of Nantwich Town.
Things started to look up in October with wins over Winterton, Grantham and Stockton in the league as well as Albion Sports to kick off their West Riding Cup campaign.
Pontefract ended that cup run in November, a month which started with defeat at Belper.
December and January were poor months and saw two wins out of nine matches played.
February saw just the one win, at home to Dunston but March was much better - it started with a 0-0 draw, as February had ended, but after that they won three in a row without conceding.
April has ended up busy due to postponements , this will be their seventh of eight matches in the month.
Having won back to back home matches against Carlton and Ashington, Grantham were surprise winners at the Clayborn Ground on Monday evening.
After today they finish on Saturday away to Grimsby Borough.
They come in to this fixture in 10th place with the following record:
P 36 W 15 D 6 L 15 F 53 A 42 Pts. 51
At the Clayborn Ground, they have won half of their 18 matches and collected 29 points.

Alex Wollerton leads the scoring charts with 10, followed by Liam Hardy with 7.

The Nailers
Belper were in a very strong position at the start of April, with their fate in their own hands going in to back to back matches with Cleethorpes.
Unfortunately the Owls did the double over us and this was followed by heavy defeats to Hebburn and Pontefract.
Belper, having gone four matches without scoring for the first time in over a decade now sit third bottom of the form guide.
After today the Nailers finish the season on Saturday at home to Stockton.
Belper sit 7th in the table with a record of P 36 W 17 D 6 L 13 F 62 A 58 Pts. 57.
Away from home, the Nailers have won 8 out of 18 matches.
Kevin Bastos leads the way with 18 goals. Cam Johnson secured 8 before his move to Sheffield. Curtis Burrows and Phil Watt have 6.

Head to Head
The two teams first met in the 1991/92 season and they were both thrilling encounters.
In Yorkshire, the hosts ran out 3-2 winners before Belper got revenge back at Christchurch Meadows with a 4-3 victory. Neil Cawthorne and Mick Goddard scored for the Nailers in both matches.
Belper won both matches played in 1993, with Clive Woolley hitting two penalties to help secure a 4-0 victory just before Christmas.
Liversedge bounced back to win at home in March 1994 before Belper went on a six match unbeaten run in the fixture, conceding only two goals in the process.
From February 1997, the two clubs didn't meet for another 25 years when they both landed in the NPL Premier Division during the 22/23 season.
The game at Belper finished 0-1 but the Nailers won at the Clayborn Ground 3-1 with the goals coming from Greaves, Wilson and a Harry Middleton penalty.
Earlier this season, with both teams back in Division One East a Phil Watt goal was enough to earn Belper three points at the Raygar Stadium.
Overall from a Belper perspective, the record in the fixture is: P15 W 10 D 1 L 4 F 30 A 15.
12 of the encounters came in the NCEL Premier Division, with the last three in the NPL.

Form Guide (League)
Liversedge - (1 Apr) WDLWWL (22 Apr)
Belper Town - (23 Mar) DWLLLL (23 Apr)

Team News
Kevin Bastos is unavailable as he completes his ban.

Permutations
Belper can now only finish as high as 6th, one place outside the playoffs.
They will move there with victory this evening.
Liversedge are in 10th and can finish as high as 7th - they will steal Belper's place if they win this evening and on Saturday, and other results go their way. Their goal difference is better than all of the teams around them.

Match details
Liversedge FC vs. Belper Town
Northern Premier League Division One - East Division
Thursday, 25th April 2024 – 7:45pm kick off
Clayborn Ground
Quaker Lane
Liversedge
WF15 8DF
Tickets: Adults £10, Concessions £5, Child (5-16) £3, Family (2 x adult, 2 x U16s) £22.

Follow the match
Live commentary is available with Chris 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
On Wednesday evening, Grantham ensured they will play at Step 4 again next season when they won at Sheffield.
This is the only game in the division tonight and will mean all teams have played 37 matches.