Match Preview: Gainsborough Trinity v Bamber Bridge
Having returned to winning ways midweek against Chorley, Bamber Bridge are on the road again as they prepare to take on Gainsborough Trinity.
The hosts currently occupy 18th place in the table having won 5 drawn 2 and lost 6. Trinity have picked up seven points so far at home. However Gainsborough come into the game on a six-game winning run.
Their low position is largely due to their fantastic cup form resulting in them having played up to six games less than other teams. Last week they progressed into the third round of the FA Trophy beating National League North side Chester.
Their big success though has come in the FA cup. Gainsborough made it through four rounds of qualifying to reach the first round proper where after a 4-4 encounter away at Hednesford Town they were victorious on penalties in arguably the game of the round.
Their reward for such feet was a BBC televised trip to league 2 Harrogate town next Friday.
Russ Wilcox’s side have received a boost to their squad completing the signing of attacker Curtis Durose today. The former Rotheram youngster was previously on loan at the club where he racked up a tally of fourteen goals in the 22/23 season.
It’s not only the new signing who Brig need to watch out for but also top scorer Declan Howe. The forward has scored an impressive seventeen goals in all competitions and six in the league this season.
It is a fixture that has tended to draw headlines in recent years whether that be last year’s fixture seeing the staff of both teams turning into grounds man to get the game on or Jamie Milligan’s men’s triumphant playoff victory two seasons ago.
Brig are without a league win since late October, but they will be hoping to take momentum from Tuesday’s thrilling comeback into the fixture. Simon Grand’s 5th goal of the season was the catalyst that started the comeback and once again Brig will be looking to him for a spark up top.
The road has been successful for Brig so far this season having picked up thirteen points and three wins. New signing Nathan Mercer made his first start on Tuesday and is vying for his league debut.
Assistant manager John Hills spoke about the task ahead of Brig in the coming weeks “We have got a few games now to catch up on other sides in the league, so we need to start picking up points and it’s going to be a massive game on Saturday.”
“Over the last couple of games really things have started to click, I thought it was the best we’ve played for a while against higher opposition on Saturday, we just couldn’t stick it in the net.”
“Obviously we’ve scored 3 tonight so we’ll be looking to take that into the league.”
For those not making the trip east, online updates can be found during the game on the club’s official X and Facebook accounts.
