PREVIEW – BARLICK (GAME OFF)
This game was called off due to waterlogging following a Saturday morning pitch inspection.
It is the first of our nine remaining away games as we make the trip to the Lancashire-Yorkshire border to face a side that we remember fondly from our previous spell in the NWCFL, Barnoldswick Town.
MATCH: Barnoldswick Town v Ramsbottom United
VENUE: Silentnight Stadium, Greenberfield Lane, Barnoldswick, BB18 5LJ
COMPETITION: North West Counties League Premier Division
DATE: Saturday 10th February 2024
KICK-OFF: 3:00pm
DISTANCE FROM RAMMY: 40 minutes, 25.2 miles
ADMISSION:
Adults – £7, Concessions – £4, Under 16s – £1, Under 12s – FREE. Programme – £1
OVERVIEW:
I suppose the first question to ask is … will the weather repent? The heavy rains that put paid to our home game with Colne at half-time and then stopped the Wythenshawe game from going ahead has continued so all being well, we will be able to make the trip north to Barnoldswick for the first time since August 2021.
Any long standing Rammy fan will remember Barlick from that epic 2011/12 campaign that eventually saw us promoted out of the NWCFL thanks to the hugely memorable run through March and April. Barnoldswick were one of the chasing pack, along with Runcorn Town and Bootle and our 2-0 win at the Silentnight Stadium was crucial.
And so, for the first time since that memorable March afternoon, we head back for a league game – although we did head up there for a remarkable FA Cup game where the Rams came off worse in a nine-goal thriller in the preliminary round back in 2021.
Our hosts are enduring a very similar season to ourselves, sitting just one place below in 17th place and only behind on goal difference but they have secured just a single win and collected only five points from 30 available in this calendar year. They finally broke their run of five defeats with a battling 3-3 draw at Colne a week Tuesday ago but have suffered the same fate as us as three trips to Charnock Richard have been shelved since their last game.
The Rams came away from their match with Wythenshawe Town with a last minute defeat but took, once more, a great deal of confidence from the game but two weeks between games has allowed the squad to regain full fitness and the new signings to bed in further.
But, let’s just hope that the weather allows the game to go ahead as we already have a nine-game March on the horizon, including five away games in a row. We really don’t want to have to squeeze in another!
HISTORY:
We have only met on seven previous occasions and it is 4-2 to the Rams with one draw, that coming early in this season in August when Matthew Dudley’s penalty was cancelled out by Brad Carsley’s equaliser in the first half.
It will be a fifth trip to the Silentnight Stadium, the first coming in November 2010 when Aaron Hollindrake’s 88th minute winner claimed the game for the hosts but we would take all three victories in the 2011/12 campaign, an FA Cup victory 2-0 in August, a 3-2 home win at the Riverside and that 2-0 victory as mentioned earlier.
The fourth visit was that remarkable FA Cup game in August 2021 when Paul Turner’s hat-trick and a Gareth Hill brace put the home side 5-2 up with 20 minutes to go. Richie Baker and Eddie Cooper’s strikes made the game interesting but the hosts held out for a Cupset (as we were in the league above at the time!).
Here is a reminder of the reverse fixture between the Rams and Barlick back in August – here is Will Place’s report
MANAGER STEVE WILKES’ THOUGHTS:
“It is a really tough stage of the season for everyone connected to a non-league clubs with the way the weather has been these last few weeks.
“We know going to Barnoldswick is always a tough place to go and Saturday will be no different. Hopefully the weather holds off and we can get a game in. The games are going to come thick and fast now due to all the postponements, so I’m glad we’ve added to the squad in recent weeks.”
