Michael Connor’s Blyth Spartans travel across to fellow strugglers Bamber Bridge tomorrow afternoon, seeking a vital 3 points to aid the bid for survival.
Spartans will also be looking to secure their first away win (on a Saturday) for 357 days.
At present Bamber Bridge currently occupies the 4th and final spot in the drop zone – just 1 point off free spending Matlock Town in 18th place. Brig looked like they were beginning to pick up at the start of the month, defeating fellow strugglers Mickleover and Basford United 1-0.
Defeats against the likes of Workington, FCUM and Prescot Cables would follow, though it looked like they were on course to return to winning ways last week away at Morpeth Town – until Spartans loanee Sam Hodgson popped up with a header 10 minutes from time to make it 2-2.
In what’s been a challenging season for Brig, with financial issues plaguing them off the pitch – they’ve struggled to find much form in the league, and were dumped out of the FA Cup in the first qualifying round by Newton Aycliffe. They did manage a short run in the FA Trophy, however National League North strugglers Farsley Celtic ended that in November.
One of their main players this season has been midfielder Jack Baxter, who’s chipped in with 6 goals across his 38 games throughout the season. A bit of an all rounder in the middle of the park who clearly has an eye for goal, Baxter will likely be a key factor for Brig tomorrow.
As well as Baxter, Brig have a number of experienced players in their ranks that may well be familiar to Spartans fans – mostly notably forward Mark Cullen. Now 32 years old, the Ashington born forward has featured for the likes of Port Vale, Hartlepool United, Blackpool, Luton and Hull before dropping down to non-league football with AFC Fylde – where he suffered an ACL rupture in 2021 and had nearly 2 years out of football following the injury. This season, Cullen has netted 4 times in 16 games – though he is listed as missing for tomorrow’s game due to injury.
Longtime Morecambe midfielder Alex Kenyon is another player some may be familiar with. Spells at Scunthorpe, Chester and Carson Ashton would have pitted the versatile ball winner against Spartans a number of times in recent years. Now operating as a centre back, Kenyon is a bit of a no nonsense sort of player – who’ll be difficult to breakdown if he features tomorrow, as he hasn’t played for the hosts since early January.
Fleetwood Town veteran Nathan Pond is another one of the old guard plying their trade at Brig these days. Now 40 years old, Pond featured nearly 500 times for Fleetwood between 2003 and 2018, rising from the UniBond 1st Division all the way up to League One. A tough tackling and wise old head at the back, Pond will be difficult to get the better off.
As well as Cullen and possibly Kenyon – Macauley Wilson, Jeff Adubofour, Michael Potts, Will Russ, Olly Molloy and Danny Forbes are all set to miss tomorrow’s game due to injury. On top of that, another vastly experienced player in Simon Grand is set to miss tomorrow’s game due to injury.
In their first game without Head Coach Nathan Haslam, Spartans will likely once again be without both Zach Simpson and Billy Gordon, who’ve been out with injury over the last few weeks. This week Spartans also said farewell to centre back/full back Dan Myers, who returned to his parent club Spennymoor Town after an impressive spell at Spartans.
As for the goalkeeping situation, it remains to be seen if former Gateshead keeper Ollie Basey will return to the team, or if Matty Bancroft will keep his place in the side following an impressive game last week.
Leon Burke will likely remain part of the squad tomorrow – though it remains to be seen if anymore if the U19’s will be called up to the squad tomorrow.
If you’re going straight down the to the ground tomorrow, it’s worth baring in mind that the clubhouse will be open from 1pm. By the looks of it they have a canny range of stuff on tap, and they have a local sandwich shop (Pennington’s) that do food for them – so we’ll likely be well fed and watered tomorrow.
In terms of other nearby pubs, we appear to be a bit stuck I’m afraid. The ground appears to be stuck between a housing estate and industrial park,
Poachers (a Hungary Horse) can be found on the edge of the industrial estate as is the Walton Fox, which appears to be another chain pub. In terms of proper pubs, the nearest one is likely either The Victoria or the Lostock Hall Con’s Club.
Tickets don’t appear to be sold online tomorrow, so it’s a case of pay on the door tomorrow – though they do take card on the turnstile.
Adults – £12
Concessions – £8
11-15 years – £2 when accompanied by an adult
Under 11’s – Free
If you’re making your own way down to Bamber Bridge tomorrow, a trip down the A1 and A66 will likely be your best bet.
Taking a moment to look at the drop zone, it’s glaringly obvious that both sides will be looking at this tie as a winnable game.
Typically sides need roughly 50 points to stay up in the NPL Premier Division, so with Spartans now only able to get a maximum of 51 points – we realistically need to win every game from now until the end of the season.
As for Brig, they realistically need to pick up 16 points from their final 10 games. Despite missing host of first team players, they’ll be eyeing a crucial 3 points – which may see them leapfrog Whitby, Leek, Matlock and possibly even Workington if results go their way.
