PONTEFRACT COLLIERIES vs STOCKTON TOWN
COMPETITION:Â Pitching In Northern Premier League East Division
DATE:Â Saturday 16th September, 2023
KICK-OFF:Â 3:00pm
ENTRY: £9 Adult, £6 Concession, U16 £3
GROUND:Â The Hunters Stadium, Beechnut Ln, Pontefract WF8 4FU
LIVE UPDATES:Â @stockton_townfc- Twitter/X
LIVE COMMENTARY:Â @AnchorsRadio Twitter/X Spaces
Stockton Town resume their league campaign when they make the trip to Pontefract Collieries.Â
It is a case of deja vu for both teams after last Saturday’s meeting in the FA Trophy. The Anchors came out of that with a deserved 3-1 win despite playing the majority with ten men. Striker Michael Fowler was sent off after an altercation with Colls defender Jack Steers.
Before the pause for two cup fixtures, Stockton had began to pick up some form in the league and come into this game after three league wins on the spin. They got their first three points of the season in a home game against Bridlington Town before following it up with back-to-back wins over the Bank Holiday weekend against Ossett United and Newton Aycliffe.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
This is the seventh meeting between the two clubs. Here’s a list of the previous results:
12 Feb 2022- Pontefract Collieries 2-0 Stockton Town- Northern Premier League East Division
26 Mar 2022- Stockton Town 3-1 Pontefract Collieries- Northern Premier League East Division
20 Aug 2022- Stockton Town 2-3 Pontefract Collieries- Emirates FA Cup Preliminary Round
18 Oct 2022- Pontefract Collieries 2-1 Stockton Town- Northern Premier League East Division
21 Jan 2023- Stockton Town 2-3 Pontefract Collieries- Northern Premier League East Division
09 Sep 2023- Stockton Town 3-1 Pontefract Collieries- FA Trophy First Qualifying Round
FORM GUIDE
Stockton Town: W L W W W
Last Game: Stockton Town 3-1 Pontefract CollieriesÂ
Pontefract Collieries: L W W W L
Last Game: Stockton Town 3-1 Pontefract CollieriesÂ
THE OPPOSITION
Pontefract Collieries are under the guidance of Craig Rouse who has entered his third full season at the helm. They began the season with back-to-back league defeats but like the Anchors have recorded three straight league triumphs.
They have been impressive results too with a 1-0 win at Cleethorpes Town, a 4-0 thrashing of Ossett United and a 3-1 win at a Belper Town side who had made a strong start.
Summer signing Adam Haw has made a good start with four goals which included a penalty in last Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at Stockton. Adam Priestley has also found the net with a brace against Ossett. Loan signing Frankie Sinfield, who won that aforementioned penalty, also got off the mark in the win at Belper.
VIEW FROM THE OPPOSITION
Speaking after the defeat in the FA Trophy, Manager Craig Rouse looked ahead to the league meeting:
“We’ve had three straight wins in the league and that’s something that we are keen to continue.
“The players in there will be keen to put that right after last Saturday. There’s a few frustrated players in there, so we’ll get them right in the week.
“We’ll look to bounce back and react from that (defeat to Stockton) and if we do that, the FA Trophy result is forgotten about.”
PRE-MATCH QUOTESÂ
Looking ahead to the game, Assistant Manager JD Briggs said:
“Hopefully it’s going to rain this week and the grass will be alright on Saturday. We might change the formation and how we play.
“We will have a little look at things this week and see how we are.”
