PR: Maltby Main vs North Ferriby

North Ferriby FC travel to Maltby Main on Wednesday night, looking to bounce back from their FA vase exit as they return to league action.

Chris Bolder’s side are looking to write the wrongs of their last game, which ended with a penalty shootout defeat against St Helens. The Villagers took the lead in the game through Lewis Stephens’ first goal since joining the club in the summer. However, Bolder saw his side pegged back by an equaliser before succumbing 7-6 on penalties. Bolder summed up his thoughts after the game “we are hugely disappointed to go out of the Vase competition, to go out on penalties is frustrating, especially when we had some really good opportunities to score in the game. Full credit to St Helens, they were a strong outfit who worked incredibly hard out of possession and played some good stuff chasing us a few issues on the break. We have to put it behind us now and focus on the league, where our early form has been good”.

The game at Maltby Main will be the first league game for Bolder’s side in just under two weeks. The Villagers still sit top of the table with nine points from three games.

Maltby Main have undergone changes this off-season with the hire of former Parkgate managers Andy Dawson and Lee Whitehead.

Under their stewardship, they have four points from four games. They are unbeaten in their last two games, their last fixture ending in a 0-0 draw with Barton Town. When asked to share his thoughts ahead of the game, Bolder said, “It will be another difficult place to go to where conditions will make it very challenging. We have to ensure we approach the game with a positive mindset and ensure that we do the basics well. A main focus for us has to be to get this clinical edge in the final third as our build-up play has been good but we have fallen short when we are in excellent positions”.

The Villagers were missing a total of 12 players when they visited St Helens. Bolder is hoping to have players returning for the Maltby Main trip.

Report kindly provided by North Ferriby.