STOCKTON TOWN VS HYDE UNITED PREVIEW
COMPETITION: Pitching In Northern Premier League Premier Division – Matchday 3
DATE: Saturday 16th August, 2025
KICK-OFF: 15:00
ENTRY: £13 Adult, £10 Concessions, £6 11-18 year-olds, £4 U11
GROUND: Stockton Town FC, Map Group UK Stadium, Bishopton Road West, Stockton-on-Tees, TS19 0QD
LIVE UPDATES: @stockton_townfc – Twitter/X
LIVE COMMENTARY: https://anchors-radio.mixlr.com/
Stockton Town complete a home double header on Saturday when they welcome Hyde United to the MAP Group UK Stadium.
The Anchors made a blistering start to their home campaign with an emphatic 6-0 win over Workington.
It was a rounded team performance which saw five different goalscorers in Josh Scott, Jake Petitjean, Michael Sweet, Kev Hayes and Jamie Bramwell.
The Anchors will be without several players for the game. Adam Nicholson and Amar Purewal are suspended, while Owen Gallacher remains sidelined with the elbow fracture he sustained in Tuesday’s win over Workington. Glen Butterworth is unavailable, and Tom Birtles is out following a recent heart scare.
On a brighter note, Vinnie Steels returned to non-contact training this week and is expected to be 3–4 weeks away from action. Josh Baggs is back in contention, and Jaedon Faulkener has been recalled.
THE OPPOSITION
Nick Spooner leads Hyde United into his fourth full season at the helm. The former Bolton Wanderers Youth Coach penned a new one-year deal in May. They will be aiming to challenge for the Play-Offs after falling short in their last few attempts. A glut of draws throughout the season cost them.
Goalkeeper Yusuf Mersin has been brought in from Mickleover. The towering shot-stopper proved frugal when Stockton Town were beaten at Mickelover back in February. Left-back Taylor McMahon has made the step up from North West Counties outfit Irlam. There’s also a return for forward Tom Pratt who had a previous fruitful spell where he scored 62 goals in 223 appearances. The loan market has been dipped into with Lewis Rawsthorn arriving from Radcliffe.
It has been a mixed start for the Tigers after taking a win over Lancaster City in their opener and then a defeat at newly-promoted Cleethorpes Town in their midweek outing.
It was a fast start in last Saturday’s opener as they scored inside two minutes through Jordan Scanlon. They made a relatively fast start on Tuesday too when Lewis Rawsthorn gave them the lead on 10 minutes, but they were defeated by goals from Jacob Gratton, James Bluden and Ben Anderucci.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The two sides met for the first time last season taking a win each.
24 Aug 24- Hyde United 4-1 Stockton- Northern Premier League Premier Division
26 Apr 25- Stockton Town 1-0 Hyde United- Northern Premier League Premier Division
THE OPPOSITION VIEW
Speaking after the Cleethorpes defeat, Spooner said:
“They (Stockton Town) have had a great win. It will be a tough game.
“They had a great season last year in their first season at this level.
“So we just need to get in training on Thursday and look to put it right.”
PRE-MATCH QUOTES
Looking ahead to the game, Michael Dunwell said:
“It was more or less a perfect performance (against Workington). Hopefully we can try to emulate that on Saturday but it’s going to be a really tough game against Hyde.”
