By Stephen Burton
Blyth Spartans play their second game in just 48 hours as they face a Monday night trip to the Horsfall Stadium to take on Bradford Park Avenue.
Michael Nelson’s side suffered their fourth defeat in succession on Saturday as Boston United claimed all three points at Croft Park following Michael Liddle’s own goal.
Spartans face a Bradford PA side that currently sit in 19th place in National League North and are yet to win in their first home games so far.
Overall this campaign, they’ve won just once with three draws.
SUPPORTER INFORMATION
The turnstiles open around an hour and a half before kick-off and are located at either end of the ground on Cemetery Road and Park Road. Matchday prices for league games are as follows:
Adult: £14. Concession: £10. Student : £5. Youth (12-17): £3. Junior (under 12, must be accompanied by an adult): £1.
THE OPPOSITION
Bradford PA have endured a difficult start to the season and have gone seven games without a win, with their last victory coming in a 2-1 win away to Darlington on September 4th.
Mark Bower’s side endured a tough afternoon on Saturday as they fell to a 5-1 defeat away to Kidderminster Harriers, with Dylan Mottley-Henry grabbing a consolation goal for the visitors.
WHAT WE’RE SAYING
After the defeat to Boston, Nelson told BSFCTV: “We’re disappointed with the goal we conceded and we didn’t really create a great deal. Then second half, we changed the shape and thought we looked a bit more lively. We were definitely the aggressors in the second-half and disappointed with didn’t get something out of it.
“I think we pinned them in at times in the second-half and had a succession of corners, but we didn’t really test the keeper. They were hanging on towards the end, but we still didn’t create anything clear-cut to get something out of it.”
Looking ahead to the Bradford PA game he added: “It’s a quick turnaround.
“The boys are disappointed in there, they’re down. But they feel like they had a right good go in the second-half, and they feel in a better mood than after the Chorley game so hopefully we can carry that on.”
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Speaking to Bradford’s media team, Bower felt his side were hard done by despite the score line. He said: “We got beat 5-1 which is obviously not great.
“But I think it’s probably the most flattering result for an opposition that I’ve been involved in. They’ve had five shots and scored five goals. But what they did was score some outstanding goals.
“Today, we’ve come here and for large spells we’ve done really well. You go through our team and lots of our lads have done really well today.
“We’ve got to turnaround ourselves quickly. It’s a big game on Monday night for us, and if we take large parts of that performance today we’ll be in with a chance of a result.”
LAST TIME WE MET
The last meeting between the sides was in August 2019 where they played out a goalless draw at Horsfall Stadium.
Overall the last five games have only seen one win for Spartans and two defeats, with Blyth’s last victory coming in February 2018.
On that day Dale Hopson scored twice with Jarrett Rivers also getting on the scoresheet in a comfortable 3-0 win at Croft Park.
MEDIA COVERAGE
Join Niall Bromley and Phil Castiaux on Blyth Live from 7:30pm.
Alternatively, you can follow the game via Twitter.