The Lions make their first appearance in the Emirates FA Cup this season with Stockton Town the visitors to Nethermoor on Saturday for the 3pm kick-off.
Ticket prices have been reduced to just £10 adults, £5 concessions/U18’s and £1 U11’s, season tickets are not valid for this fixture.
After 11 Vanarama National League North games in six weeks and sitting in fourth place it is the second FA competition to take place at Nethermoor this week after the Youth Cup game on Tuesday night.
Saturday’s 3-0 win over Hereford was the perfect reaction from the defeat at Chester with Aaron Martin bagging his second hat-trick of the season and Marcus Dewhurst keeping a clean sheet on his second debut.
Stockton have played 12 games in all competitions so far this season winning eleven and drawing the other one, their 2-2 stalemate at Nostell Miners Welfare in the Emirates FA Cup was followed by a 5-1 victory in the replay.
They currently sit in second place in the EBAC Northern League Division One having won all five of their league games, they’re just seven points behind Hebburn Town who have played four games more.
We spoke to Russ O’Neill following Saturday’s home win over Hereford and he said “It was a superb performance all the way through, the subs who came on made a massive difference as well. I think we came out today and looked like we had done previously, I am really happy with the result. We have got that ability to bounce back but we need to take it up to another level now and make sure our mentality and physicality is at the max for every game so that we are relentless.”
Speaking of Marcus Dewhurst’s return the Joint Manager said “Marcus has done really well, he has looked assured, started the attacks off well and his shot stopping speaks for itself, he will be really happy with a clean sheet and he is delighted to be back.”
Looking ahead to Stockton’s visit on Saturday O’Neill added “It is a real banana skin, they are an ambitious club that are looking to go up the pyramid, from what I have heard they are a real expansive team, it will be a tough test and we are looking forward to it. You love the FA Cup, everyone loves the FA Cup, last season it was a good distraction for us, it brought a lot of money and finances into the club. We will be going all out to get as far as we can.”
Aaron Martin also gave Thomas Feaheny his thoughts after hitting 14 goals for the season already “It is good to be scoring goals, I wasn’t pleased with my performance but to not be playing well and still scoring is a credit to the hard work the team put in. We needed to bounce back, today we were on top of them and had to make sure they didn’t have a chance on the ball, that is where we got all our joy.”
Martin sitting top of the goal scoring charts is enjoying his football at Nethermoor “I do look at the goal tally, it has become a bit of a theme now. It has become a mentality, I want to be scoring all the time. The tactics from Marcus and Russ are paying off.”
He also issued a warning notice to future opponents saying “When everyone is on it we are dangerous to every team that comes across us.”
Speaking of the Joint Managers who recruited him from Brighouse Town Aaron added “Marcus and Russ are doing a great job at analysing the games and seeing where we need to improve on, whether that is being more physical or putting the extra yards in, we have loads of energy and creativity along with a great bench. It can only get better.”
Thomas Feaheny caught the thoughts of Marcus Dewhurst following his second Lions debut “It is great to be back playing at Nethermoor in front of the fans and no better way than with a clean sheet and three points. You couldn’t ask for a better group of lads to fit in with. When you are with a bunch of players that talk to you and help you through, it is great for a young player.”
Marcus arrived after last season’s cup run had ended but cannot wait to hopefully be a part of another one this campaign “It is probably the biggest tournament in the world, especially English football, hopefully we can have another cup run, it is a great experience.”
