Match Preview

The Eagles return to action on Saturday as they travel to local rivals Liversedge - this was meant to be Eccleshill United's second local derby in three games, however, the latter against Thackley got postponed in midweek due to the heavy rain downpour causing a waterlogged pitch, therefore The Eagles will be raring to go against Liversedge to keep up their momentum - the momentum that saw them unbeaten for the whole of November.

With all that said, it still won't be a walk in the park for Eccleshill United as they face a side who sit only four places below them in the league table, and it should be an even proceeding with both teams scoring twenty-nine goals so far this season respectively, furthermore Liversedge come into the game boasting a side with a large amount of talent and depth - they currently have fifty-five players signed on, and there could be a freshly changed starting eleven from the one that beat Harrogate Railway 2-1 in their last outing. Furthermore, Liversedge has many talents within the large squad, including an ex-Bradford City player (James King), the son of a Hull City cult hero (Jordan Windass), and they even have a man who was part of the Yorkshire Amateur side that won promotion at the Mitton Group Stadium last season in Craig Maynard.

Another key asset in the Liversedge squad is Danny Farrar, Farrar actually started the season as an Eccleshill United player, although an injury early doors kept him out of action, and when he returned back from injury he returned to former club Liversedge. He played a massive part in October when he helped Liversedge beat Armthorpe 10-2 in the NCEL Cup - scoring a hattrick. Liversedge have been involved in three matches in where one of the teams has scored ten goals - they've been on the receiving end twice. Eccleshill United have won three out of their last four games - getting a draw against league promotion hopefuls Hemsworth last time out.

As mentioned before, Eccleshill United was unbeaten for the whole of November, and the performances from every player involved will give the gaffer Sean Regan a selection headache - with Khurram Shazad the only noticeable player back to availability after he was unavailable last time out. Also, the strong competition for places in centre-midfield will be an interesting outcome as any of Jassim Alali, Andrew Cooper, Charlie Flaherty, Nathan Woodward and Ryan Hargreaves could start, the latter two mentioned have both put in strong performances coming off the bench in the last few weeks.

Liam Hudson, Jonny Irving, Ben Grech-Brooksbank and Jack Bentley remain long-term injury absentees at this stage, and Tom Dugdale will be hoping for a break from his injury in the coming week or two as he closes in on one-hundred per cent fitness. One player who has definitely reached one-hundred per cent fitness in the last month is former Liversedge, and current Eccleshill winger Jake Thompson, Jake has scored six goals this season, and has scored three in his last two games - a clear positive after his injury setback against Tadcaster. Jake is The Eagles top goal scorer, and on the other side, Liversedge's Joe Walton has knocked up an impressive sixteen goals this season.

This derby may not be the first one that comes to mind when you think who the two club's main rivals are, but with only a separation of thirty-minutes, this is most certainly a local derby and will have the full-package - two high-scoring teams that are only places apart in the league table, as well as the depth of players playing against their old team, their old teammates they've had at other clubs, as well as many experienced players who have played against each other in previous years.

To end, it's best to leave with ever-present midfielder Charlie Flaherty's quote on derbies, "Derby day, anything can happen. It doesn't matter if you are bottom of the table or the top, once you meet in that derby day then anything can happen," wise words from Flaherty, and most definitely there will be a great crowd at Clayborn for 'Derby Day'.