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Needham Market v Stourbridge - Match Preview

Needham Market v Stourbridge - Match Preview

Nigel Gregg5 Apr 2019 - 18:35
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Stourbridge pay their first ever visit to the Suffolk side, desperately in need of a win on the road after four successive away losses. (READ ON)

Saturday, 6th April 2019
Evo-stik League South Premier Division Central
NEEDHAM MARKET v STOURBRIDGE
kick-off 3 pm

Ground address - Bloomfields, Quinton Road, Needham Market, Suffolk. IP6 8DA

Directions - Enter Needham Market on B1113 and turn right into Barking Road (B1078) from North approach. Then turn right into Chainhouse Road. Continue up to the top of the hill and turn right into Quinton Road. Continue along the road for a few hundred yards and the ground is situated on the left hand side signposted Bloomfields, Needham Market FC. Follow the driveway round to the left to enter the car park.

Allow around three to three-and-a-quarter hours travel time, if making your own way by car.

Supporters travelling on the team coach are reminded that it departs from the War Memorial Athletic Ground at 9.15 am.

Stourbridge will wear their change kit of yellow shirts, blue shorts and white socks.

ADMISSION PRICES - We understand that admission prices are £11 for adults, concessions £7, children aged 12-16 years of age £1 with children under 12 admitted free of charge with a paying adult.

NOTE - There is some building work going on at Bloomfields at the moment, so one or two areas may be off limits.

The match programme is available online only. Please see the separate story for the link to download.

MATCH PREVIEW

Stourbridge hope to welcome back midfielder Aaron Forde and wide-man Callum Powell for Saturday's visit to Needham Market. Both missed last Saturday's home draw with St Ives Town with Forde serving a 1-match ban following his dismissal at Royston, while Powell was ruled out through injury.

The Glassboys are now facing a fight to retain second spot in the league standings with King's Lynn Town having narrowed the gap to two points, so they can ill afford too many more slip-ups in the final run-in. They also want some momentum going into the play-offs at the end of April so boss Gary Hackett is looking for a renewed effort from his side and believes the team will thrive on the pressure in these closing weeks.

Needham Market finished 19th in last season's Bostik League Premier Division before being transferred into the newly formed Premier Division Central for Midlands and East Anglian clubs. They currently lie 11th in the league table with 49 points from 37 games (won 14, drew 7 and lost 16). The Suffolk side suffered a five-game losing streak in February/March to damage any play-off ambitions they held, but have enjoyed better fortunes more recently with a 1 - 1 draw at home to Coalville Town followed by a 1 - 0 victory at Rushall Olympic last Saturday.

In a form guide of the last 10 league matches Stourbridge are 13th with 13 points accumulated, while Needham Market are 18th with 8 points mustered.

An interesting sub-plot is that Greg Mills continues to lead the divisional goalscoring charts with 22 goals, but Needham Market's Joseph Marsden is not too far behind with 18 to his name.

Victory for Gary Hackett's side would give them a league double over the Marketmen having defeated the Suffolk side 3 - 1 at the War Memorial Athletic Ground back in late September. Two goals in six minutes put Stourbridge in the driving seat with Callum Powell opening his account on 28 minutes with a tap-in from a Kaiman Anderson cross and more home pressure saw Anderson crack home a second soon afterwards. Powell then scored his second goal of the afternoon in first-half stoppage time with a grasscutter of a shot past Jessup. The visitors restored some pride after the break and pulled a goal back through Tariq Issa fifteen minutes from time. They gave it a go in the latter stages, but the score-line remained 3 - 1.

Needham Market FC twitter - https://twitter.com/needhammktfc

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