STOCKTON TOWN VS CARLTON TOWN PREVIEW
COMPETITION: Pitching In Northern Premier League East Division Play-Off Semi-Final
DATE: Tuesday 30th April, 2024
KICK-OFF: 7:45pm
ENTRY: £9 Adult, £7 Concession, £3 kids
GROUND: MAP Group UK Stadium, Bishopton Road West, Stockton-On-Tees, TS19 0QD
LIVE UPDATES: @stockton_townfc – Twitter/X
LIVE COMMENTARY: Anchors FM- https://anchors-radio.mixlr.com/
Stockton Town welcome Carlton Town to the MAP Group UK Stadium for the Northern Premier League East Division Play-Off Semi-Final.
The Anchors felt short of the league title by just one point to Hebburn Town on Saturday. They did their side of the bargain with a 4-0 win over Belper Town.
Unfortunately for Stockton, the Hornets claimed the title thanks to a 2-0 win at Sheffield FC.
Adam Nicholson’s opener did temporarily have Stockton at the top of the table but Dean Briggs decisive strike just minutes later returned the Hornets to the summit where they remained.
Stockton added further goals to aid their title push through Mikey Roberts who netted a brace and Kev Hayes who scored from the penalty spot. Hebburn ended any Stockton hope when Briggs completed his brace.
The result did mean Michael Dunwell’s men take back-to-back victories in the Play-Offs following a 3-0 home win over Brighouse Town on the previous Saturday.
Dunwell has an almost full squad to pick from again. Stephen Thompson remains out as he battles with a knee injury.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
This is the fifth meeting between Stockton Town and Carlton Town with last meeting exactly a month ago:
05 Nov 22- Stockton Town 4-3 Carlton Town- Northern Premier League East Division
25 Mar 23- Carlton Town 0-2 Stockton Town- Northern Premier League East Division
09 Mar 24- Carlton Town 1-2 Stockton Town- Northern Premier League East Division
30 Mar 24- Stockton Town 0-2 Carlton Town- Northern Premier League East Division
FORM GUIDE
Stockton Town: W W L W D
Last Game: Belper Town 0-4 Stockton Town
Carlton Town: L L W L W
Last Game: Brighouse Town 2-0 Carlton Town
THE OPPOSITION
Carlton Town negotiated a huge backlog of games to reach Northern Premier League Play-Offs for the first time since 2012.
It has been amazing turnaround from the Millers who just 12 months ago were on the verge of relegation until a 2-1 win over Dunston on the final day.
During their end of season run they beat Stockton Town 2-0 on Easter Saturday- the only side to defeat the Anchors on home turf all season. Second half goals from Alex Howes and Dean Freeman sealed the win.
They did have a chance of securing a home Semi-Final in the final week of the season but a 3-1 defeat to Dunston ended any hopes of that.
Alex Hardwick and Niall Davie are among the ones to watch for Carlton. They both ended the season on double figures with 11 and 10 goals respectively
PRE-MATCH QUOTES
Looking ahead to the game, Manager Michael Dunwell said:
“We can’t look back now we have got to look forward and be really positive going into Tuesday’s game.
“Hopefully we can go on and win that then we can have two home games with a thousand Stockton fans cheering us on to the next league.
“We have been here before. We have lost two finals, last year with the heartbreak of penalties.
“We have got a good group of lads in there and they have one aim to get out of this league this year. I still think that we can do it.”
