Newcastle University v Rothbury
Northern Football Alliance
Reeves Independent George Dobbins League Cup QF
Saturday 12th January 2019, Kimberley Park, Prudhoe, Kick-off 1.30pm.
Rothbury go into Saturday's rearranged Cup quarter-final tie at Newcastle Uni with nothing to lose, so boss Dan Herron is in relaxed mood about the fixture.
Should the Reds pull off a surprise and advance, then they would be huge outsiders again against Micky Connor's Blyth Town in the semis. Were the bookies to be taking odds then the Coquetdalers would be looking at being something like ten to one shots or higher to get anything from Kimberley Park.
However, that's not always how Cup football works and anything can happen; Herron was philosophical about the draw and said: "It’s been a difficult draw all the way to be fair - we’ve been drawn away in every single round. Obviously the Uni is the hardest tie we could get with their form, but then Blyth Town is just as hard with their form in Division One too!"
The Uni were 9-0 winners at Percy Main last time out and show no signs off taking their foot off the gas as they race towards a second successive title.
"The pressure is off for the lads. We’ll be telling them to go out and enjoy it, but work hard to prove what they can do. Ultimately we’d love to compete at that standard in a few years time so it’s a great test for the lads against the the best side in the Alliance," admitted Herron.
"We always try to play an attractive passing style of football and we won’t be changing that for the game. That’s always been our foundation so we wouldn’t change just to try and win one game. I think the supporters appreciate watching that style of football, given the crowds we get down at a home game," he continued.
"There is no doubt we’ll have to up the work rate off the ball if we want to get anything from the fixture."
With Rothbury unbeaten in their last 15 League fixtures they have got into the good habit of not rolling over and who knows, they may have a game plan in place. But Herron certainly wasn't going to show that hand here and if you want to see how the game pans out, get yourself down to Prudhoe.
Northern Football Alliance
Reeves Independent George Dobbins League Cup QF
Saturday 12th January 2019, Kimberley Park, Prudhoe, Kick-off 1.30pm.
Rothbury go into Saturday's rearranged Cup quarter-final tie at Newcastle Uni with nothing to lose, so boss Dan Herron is in relaxed mood about the fixture.
Should the Reds pull off a surprise and advance, then they would be huge outsiders again against Micky Connor's Blyth Town in the semis. Were the bookies to be taking odds then the Coquetdalers would be looking at being something like ten to one shots or higher to get anything from Kimberley Park.
However, that's not always how Cup football works and anything can happen; Herron was philosophical about the draw and said: "It’s been a difficult draw all the way to be fair - we’ve been drawn away in every single round. Obviously the Uni is the hardest tie we could get with their form, but then Blyth Town is just as hard with their form in Division One too!"
The Uni were 9-0 winners at Percy Main last time out and show no signs off taking their foot off the gas as they race towards a second successive title.
"The pressure is off for the lads. We’ll be telling them to go out and enjoy it, but work hard to prove what they can do. Ultimately we’d love to compete at that standard in a few years time so it’s a great test for the lads against the the best side in the Alliance," admitted Herron.
"We always try to play an attractive passing style of football and we won’t be changing that for the game. That’s always been our foundation so we wouldn’t change just to try and win one game. I think the supporters appreciate watching that style of football, given the crowds we get down at a home game," he continued.
"There is no doubt we’ll have to up the work rate off the ball if we want to get anything from the fixture."
With Rothbury unbeaten in their last 15 League fixtures they have got into the good habit of not rolling over and who knows, they may have a game plan in place. But Herron certainly wasn't going to show that hand here and if you want to see how the game pans out, get yourself down to Prudhoe.
Comments
Post a Comment