Stalybridge next challenge for buoyant Castle
It’s amazing what one win can do for confidence and when that one win is against the team at the top of the pile in the league, that just increases even more.
The visit of Stalybridge, who sit one place below us in the league on goal difference, comes at a good time. We have no major injury concerns going into the game although we will need to make an enforced change after Josh Jordan was sent off in the closing stages of the 2-1 win at Kidsgrove, so misses out tomorrow through suspension.
In a remarkable twist, the player that Josh brought down to get sent off last weekend could be lining up for us on Saturday. We completed the signing of Kingsley Adu-Gyamfi today and he will be in the reckoning for a full debut tomorrow.
At the top end of the pitch, we’re looking a lot more threatening and not just because of the signing of Kingsley.
The big man Dan Cockerline is scoring goals and the impressive debut of Phoenix Lee at Kidsgrove meant that the attacking talent of Lewis Holdham and Patrick Mazurkiewicz had to be held back on the bench.
These are good times for the club. It’s certainly not always been the case that we’ve been able to make impact substitutions but we’re in that happy position now where we have solid options to cover defensively, in the middle and up top, which must be giving the gaffer a headache trying to keep everyone happy. Better to have that problem that not to have it of course!
Our Manchester based visitors Stalybridge have had a very similar start to the season as us, although they have just lost their way slightly with defeats in their last two league games,including a 5-1 loss at Leek last weekend.
Like us, they had a centre half sent off last Saturday and they also felt hard done by with a dubious offside goal given against them, which played a heavy part in the harshness of the scoreline they suffered against our Staffordshire neighbours. We’re certainly not going into tomorrow thinking it will be anything other than another really tough game though.
There’s plenty to play for – both for us and Stalybridge – as a win for either side will almost certainly lift the team that comes out on top into the play-offs.
Please try to get down to Buckmaster Avenue and support the boys tomorrow.
Come on ‘Castle!