Match Preview

Following last weekend’s dramatic 4-3 comeback win at the School Stadium, tomorrow New Brighton Villa will be back in front of their own fans; Johnstown Youth are the visitors to Estadio de Mark Lopez. Initially scheduled for 20th August, this game never went ahead that day as Johnstown failed to turn up. Despite the pitch, ref and NBV lads all ready for the game, a breakdown in communication resulted in the game being called off. On a 4 game winning run, and building some momentum, NBV go into the weekend top of the league. However with only a third of the season gone there is still a long way to go, and in this competitive league twists and turns are to be expected.

Season So Far…

Johnstown started the season with a home game to Lex. Lex under new management ran out comfortable 6-0 winners. They followed that with a mid-week trip to Llangollen were they were hit for double figures, losing 11-1. The following weekend saw their no show at Estadio de Mark Lopez. Another mid-week double figure loss, 10-1 at home to Penley, continued their difficult start to the season. They showed improvement in their next two games, giving Rhostyllen a scare before running out of gas in a 5-1 home loss. The following week, in cup action, they again competed better in an away Welsh Trophy game at Rhos Alewyd. Losing 3-0, the built on that in their next league game, picking up their first point in a 1-1 draw with Measgwyn. Their last outing was a trip to the Recreation Ground to face a tough Brynford test. An eight goal thriller saw them come away with no points as Brynford shaded the game 5-3. Johnstown, once an established club of the WNL Premier, have certainly had it tough the last couple of seasons. And despite starting the season with some heavy losses, results and reports from their last four games would point to the club making positive steps both on and off the field. They come into the game having had a free week, giving them more time to prepare and look to build on their recent improvements.

Last Season...

Two very different games were produced from the league fixtures last season. The first game coming towards the end of November, at Moreton Playing Fields; it was a tough, physical encounter played on a typical winter pitch. The game ended in a 3-0 away win for NBV, with late goals in both the first and second half proving the difference. The return game was played at the end of March and with pitches starting to return to more of a playable surface, NBV started well and got early goals en route to a 6-1 win. The two wins over Johnstown book ended NBV’s best run of form last season; the first win starting a 7 game unbeaten run (6 wins 1 draw). Following the second game against Johnstown, NBV couldn’t keep their mid-season run alive as they went on to win only 2 of their last 10 league games.

Team News

Following on from last weekend, and the character shown from all 14, we largely go with the same squad for this weekend. Only two changes are made as Chris Edwards (work) and Braden Lavin (Hamstring) are replaced by Max Quinn and Dave Taylor.
Training on Wednesday had a good turn out and was a very good session from all involved. Competition for places is really starting to heat up; the strength in depth already evident from our opening 10 games of the season.

Squad for tomorrow;

Rhys Peers; Tom Pennington, Max Quinn, Dean Blythin, Adam Funnell; Jordan Dorrington, Sam Wainwright, Martin Jones; Ste Orsler, Lewis Jones, Craig Williams, Dave Taylor; Kallum Pierce, Ross Sumner.

Kick off at Estadio de Mark Lopez is tomorrow @ 2.30pm.

We have started to see a few new faces, and some old, popping down to support the team; we are always appreciative of the support and hopefully this season have put on a performance to justify your decision to attend. Yet again, if you are at a loose end tomorrow, come on down to Estadio de Mark Lopez; a warm friendly welcome, a good game of football and maybe a bit of Autumn sun, all for free. And then following the game join us for a drink and some food at The Griffin Inn.

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