This weekend sees Golcar United taking on Emley AFC in an important pre-season friendly.
The two clubs are building up to their respective league campaigns which are only three weeks away.
The clubs have played in the same division for the previous two seasons but results were voided due to Covid-19 and the suspension of the season. However in the 2019/20 campaign Golcar did grab a 4-1 victory over Emley before the result was voided.
Since that game Golcar have strengthened their squad and Emley have been promoted.
The two sides have so far had differing pre-season results.
READ MORE: Young Emley AFC side come through tough second half test of character
Emley have yet to win a pre-season encounter, losing 6-0 to Liversedge, 4-0 to Worksop and 1-0 to Tadcaster Albion. Pewits boss Richard Tracey will be hoping for a positive scoreline in this one.
Meanwhile Golcar have had an interesting pre-season so far, beating Springhead 3-1, then losing to Mossley AFC 5-1 and drawing 2-2 with Huddersfield Town U19s.
The game is being played at the Skye Direct Stadium with a 3pm kick -off.
Despite the defeats in pre-season Emley boss Tracey is looking for another step up from his team this weekend.
He said: “We are really looking forward to the game against Golcar. We have a lot of respect for them as a club and we know a lot of people who work there.
“Ash and Gav (Connor, Golcar managers) are great people and I know them very well. In fact it’s Ash’s birthday coming up and I might buy him a pint if he’s nice haha.
“On a serious note, though, you must give great credit to them and what they have achieved. They have built the club up to what it is today.”
READ MORE: Golcar United hold Huddersfield Town U19s in pre-season friendly
On the results in the friendlies so far he said: “We know the results look bad on paper but honestly the performances haven’t been as bad as what it looks like.
“We have had a number of first team players out due to injuries and different things which obviously makes a difference.
“All the teams we’ve played are higher than us in the pyramid. We haven’t had a lot of the ball whereas on Saturday I will expect us to have more possession. With that possession comes the possibility of creating more chances. I expect it to be a very even game.
“We know they have threats up front and so we’ll need to deal with them. I then want to see us creating more and showing what we can do on the ball.
“We’ve used six lads from the U23s so far and you can tell they are talented. I’m really excited to work with them more. We are creating a journey for these lads from the U18s to the first team. This is why we haven’t gone with a big squad.”
Over at Golcar Ash Connor is looking forward to renewing rivalry with Emley and said: “It’s been quite a week for us. Drawing 2-2 against Huddersfield Town, it doesn’t matter whether it was their first team or U19s, it was still a great test.
“It was a big crowd, over 700 turned up which was brilliant. Not many of the Town lads will have played in front of a crowd like that before so well played to them.
“We know Emley will offer us a different test this weekend. They are a good side and deserved to go up last year.
“Both clubs have a real desire to work with eachother off the pitch. It’s brilliant to see two semi-pro clubs thriving. It’s brilliant for the town. I know Richard well and we speak often, our rivalry is not nasty and we want to develop a working relationship.
“It’s amazing to think from where this club has come from to now that we are lining up against Town and Emley.
“We’ll play to our plan on Saturday and see where it takes us. The lads are loving it on the pitch right now and there is a real buzz about the club.”
