GUISELEY AFC VS STOCKTON TOWN PREVIEW
COMPETITION: Northern Premier League Premier Division- Matchday 21
DATE: Saturday 21st December, 2024
KICK-OFF: 15:00
ENTRY: Adult £13, Concession £9, 11-18 £5, Accompanied U11 £1
GROUND: Nethermoor Park, The Sidings, 17 Station Rd, Guiseley, Leeds LS20 8BX
LIVE UPDATES: @stockton_townfc – Twitter/X
LIVE COMMENTARY: Anchors Radio (mixlr.com)
Stockton Town are on the road again this Saturday with another testing away day at Guiseley.
Last Saturday the Anchors gave a good account of themselves at league leaders Macclesfield but ultimately fell to a 4-1 defeat.
After falling behind early to a Danny Elliott header, Adam Nicholson drew them level. Macclesfield hit back with two goals to hold the advantage at the break.
Stockton pushed in the second half but found Macclesfield goalkeeper Max Dearnely in top form. They yielded to a three-goal deficit when Sean Etaluku scored in stoppage time.
Arjun Purewal returns to the squad for the game. Josh Scott remains sidelined and Michael Fowler is unavailable.
THE OPPOSITION
Guiseley are currently second in the NPL Premier Division and it is a position they are looking to cement as we head into 2025.
Even the most optimistic of Lions fans will likely admit that it is the best they can hope for this season. Macclesfield are currently 16 points clear at the summit and are certainties to go up at this point.
Any hopes of catching the Silkmen have been dashed in recent weeks with just the solitary victory in their last four games.
That said they have not suffered defeat in 90 minutes in any competition since a shock exit to Armthorpe Welfare in the West Riding County Cup in late October. Discounting that competition, the last league defeat was 2-1 loss to Worksop at home in September.
Last time out a Will Longbottom penalty earned them a point at Hyde United.
Longbottom is Guiseley’s main man with 17 goals which sees him sit top of the NPL Premier Division scoring charts.
Former Spennymoor Town players in John Lufudu and Adriano Moke are also ones to watch for. Lufudu is among the quickest in the division, while Moke boasts a wealth of experience at a higher level.
FORM GUIDE
Gusieley AFC: W D W D D
Last Game: Hyde United 1-1 Guiseley AFC
Stockton Town: W W L W L
Last Game: Macclesfield FC 4-1 Stockton Town
HEAD-TO-HEAD
This is the third meeting between the two clubs.
21 Sep 2019 – Guiseley AFC 1-0 Stockton Town – FA Cup, Second Qualifying Round
14 Aug 2024- Stockton Town 1-0 Guiseley AFC- Northern Premier League Premier Division
THE OPPOSITION VIEW
Looking ahead to the game, Guiseley manager Mark Bower said:
“It is another tough one. I think we all remember our trip up there early season and we want to put that one right.
“We’ve got a lot of work this week to get ourselves into a better functioning side.”
PRE-MATCH QUOTES
Focusing on the task in hand, Michael Dunwell said:
“It’s another big game against a team that are doing really well this season. It’ll be a another difficult away game but we know from earlier in the season that we can go there and get a result.”
“We played well against Macclesfield and if we can create as much as we did then on Saturday it should give us a great chance of picking up some points.”
