Golcar United take on Emley AFC on Friday night in the hotly anticipated League Cup semi-final tie at the Skye Direct Stadium 7.45pm kick off. Both managers Golcar’s Ash Connor and Emley’s Richard Tracey are expecting another tough but enjoyable match in the HD postcode derby.
The two sides have met twice in the league this season, firstly drawing 1-1 and then most recently 3-3 back in March. Both managers don’t expect many surprises as they know each other so well.
Ahead of the match Golcar boss Connor said: “We know Emley are a good side and it was a close game a few weeks ago with us being better in the first half and them being better in the second half.
“We know what their threats are and we’ll have to deal with them. It’s a big match for us and we want to end the season in style and get to the final. We’ll have a big crowd there and we know they’ll be right behind us.”
Emley will finish six places above Golcar in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division but Emley manager Richard Tracey isn’t taking anything for granted.
He said: “They are a good side and obviously both me and Ash know each other’s teams well so I can’t see there being any surprises. They have Kayle Price up front, he’s become the top scorer across the season, and we know the danger he provides.
“We tried to sign Kayle from Steeton but Golcar offered a better package and so he went there. We like Kayle, he’s a good player. The problem is, in the last game we kept him quiet which was good, but that then meant their other threats like Dan Naidole became very influential in that 3-3 draw. We’ll treat it like any other game. It’d be great to win and go through to another cup final.”
Whoever wins on Friday will either face Handsworth or Winterton in the final of the League Cup.
Golcar captain Dan Stocker added: “It’d be a great achievement to make the final playing for the first time in this competition.
“I’m really proud to play and lead this bunch of players and would love us to win the cup. Friday’s game will be hard, but entertaining and so we’ll have to play at our best to beat them. I know the whole village will be right behind us on the night.”
Tickets for the game can be bought HERE.
