Shirebrook Town head into South Yorkshire tomorrow, keen to put behind them the disappointment of defeat to a controversial goal, late in the game against promotion-contenders Cleethorpes Town on Wednesday evening.

But Shirebrook travel to take on Shaw Lane Aquaforce (nicknamed – The Ducks), another of the sides currently at the top end of the table who are in with a real chance of plying their trade in the NCEL Premier Division next season.

And joint-managers Mark Camm and Danny Bacon know that nothing less than a win against their hosts will be good enough, if the Langwith Road side are to stay in with a chance of finishing the season in one of the two promotion spots that are available.

But Shaw Lane manager Craig Elliot will no doubt have other ideas after being in the job for just over a month, leaving Evo-Stik League Northern Premier First Division North outfit Ossett Town to take up the post after former Ducks’ boss Simon Houghton was shown the door, following a run of poor results that threatened to scupper the club’s ambitions for promotion to Step 5 at the first attempt.

And since taking the side over, Elliot has turned Shaw Lane’s fortunes around with a 100% record, with wins against Louth Town, Teversal and Pontefract Collieries helping get their promotion push firmly back on track again.

Shaw Lane have taken an impressive 69 points from the 32 league games they’ve played so far, and they currently occupy third place in the table, two places and seven points ahead of fifth-placed Shirebrook, and with two games still in hand on tomorrow’s opponents from Derbyshire.

And it will be Shirebrook’s first-ever visit to the Shaw Lane ground after the Barnsley-based side gained promotion to the Northern Counties East Football League by winning the Sheffield & Hallamshire Premier Division title last season.

When the two sides met in the reverse fixture in mid-October last year, Shaw Lane ran out narrow 2-1 winners, all the goals coming in the first half of a closely-contested game at Langwith Road.

Kick-off tomorrow is at 3 o’clock and it’s a journey of about 39 miles (via M1) from Langwith Road, which will take around fifty minutes to complete by car, depending on the afternoon traffic. Click the Shaw Lane Aquaforce link below to obtain directions to the game.

Alternatively, why not leave your car at home and travel on the club bus instead? Seats are priced at £10 return and the bus leaves the Staff Sports & Social Club car park at 12.30pm. Contact Glen ‘Wath’ Wathall (07840 392813) or Dave ‘Flick’ Fletcher (07805 371240) as soon as possible to reserve your seat.

Match Officials:
Referee – James Bell (South Yorkshire)
Assistant One – Ryan Henger (South Yorkshire)
Assistant Two – Paul Rodgers (South Yorkshire)

Click HERE for the Shaw Lane Aquaforce team page on the official NCEL website.