Friday Night Preview: South Shields

The Holy Blues are back in BetVictor Northern Premier League action tomorrow as they face league leaders South Shields. Curtis Woodhouse’s men have not been in league action for two weeks after last weekend’s game at Mickleover Sports was cancelled due to the weather conditions. South Shields have been struggling of late, having only won once in their last nine games, which has allowed other club to gain ground on them at the top of the table.

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Going into tomorrow’s game the away side currently sit only two points above second place Basford United after 29 games, while third place FC United of Manchester are only four points behind. Basford travel to Witton Albion and could overtake South Shields if results go their way. In their last game South Shields drew 1-1 with Derbyshire side Buxton FC; Nathan Lowe got the equaliser after half an hour. Shields got the better of the reverse fixture, a 2-0 victory at Mariners Park with Josh Gillies and Jon Shaw grabbing the goals, with the win being secured well into stoppage time. This signified four wins on the bounce for the club that catapulted them to the top of the league.

Curtis Woodhouse strengthened his squad once again this week, raiding former club Tadcaster Albion with the signing of left back Jack Walters. Walters has now played under the manager with four different clubs including Bridlington and Hull United. He has made 25 appearances for Taddy this season and adds important depth as we reach the final straight of the season.

Ahead of Saturday’s and Tuesday's games, manager Curtis Woodhouse commented: "I’m looking forward to both games. South Shields come to us on Saturday, top of the league, so it’s a great one for us really, where we can go up against the best team in the league and show what we’re all about. I expect the game to be competitive, close, and hopefully we can come out on the right side. We’ll need to be better than what we were against Stalybridge and I fully expect us to be as well. I’m really looking to that and it’ll be a great game. We go up against Radcliffe on Tuesday, which again will be a tough one. We played really well at their place and took all three points, so I’m sure they’ll be wanting revenge. We’ve got to make sure that we stay on the front foot and really improve our home record really. Our away record since I’ve been here has been impeccable. Our home record could do with being better, so having back to back games at home will definitely help that".

The away side will definitely bring a lot of support to the Martin & Co Arena, so hopefully the Trinity faithful will turn out in force to support the lads. Trinity will be the underdogs for the game, but they have shown in recent weeks that you should never count them out, especially at home.