Stourport have been members of the Midland Football League Premier Division for the past ten seasons finishing in the top half of the table for most of them, never in danger of being relegated. Swifts are regular high performers in the FA Vase reaching the Third Round Proper in past three campaigns, going as far as the Fourth Round in 2021 before defeat against Walsall Wood who reached the Semi-Final that year. That defeat three seasons ago was Swifts last loss in the competition during the regulated ninety minutes having exited on penalties in the past two seasons at the 3rd Round stage. Aside from the FA Vase Saturday’s visitors are winless in their last four with their only victories in the last six matches coming in the national cup of which they knocked out UCL North league leader Sherwood Colliery earlier on in the competition.

Saturday’s win away at Newark & Sherwood United made it six straight wins for the first time since October 2019. Tyler Blake scored the winning goal for the second straight week, the goal takes him to four-teen for the season equalling Kyle Tomlin’s total, a total that would see the pair have won the golden boot at ECFC in the last three season’s.

Martin Ball was pleased with last Saturday’s result and now turns his focus onto a tough month of fixtures “Saturday is a huge game for us and takes us into a big month in terms of the volume of games and the opposition we are due to face. We have made no secret of how important the FA vase is to us as managers, but also to the club and is a competition we want to go as far in as possible. To go far in competitions, you have to play the best teams and Stourport are certainly that. We will treat Stourport with the respect they deserve and have done our homework, it is certainly set up to be a very entertaining game!”

“Last week at Newark & Sherwood was a very pleasing result for DT & me. It was a difficult surface and was far from suited for the way we want to play football, but we showed another side to our game and scrapped out a horrible 3 points away from home. Tyreece & Romaine are starting to click and defend how we expect them too when we identified them as our centre back pairing, Danny Elliott was superb and the front two did what the front two do!”

“Congratulations to Tyler Blake on his player of the month award, it is very much deserved. You will have to go a long way to find a strike partnership that works as hard for the team as Ty and OC, and we are under no illusions how lucky we are to have them at Eastwood. Tyler was always our first target when we got the job and showed huge faith in us as a young managerial team when we brought him in last season on the promise how much we would strengthen the squad in the summer. He has delivered everything we knew he would, and I genuinely believe he will improve as the season progresses with the coaching and guidance of DT.”

“Finally, we have added Tom Hodgkinson to the first team squad from the Under 16s after he impressed us on the recent trip to Lisbon, in the Notts County game and in training. He has bags of ability and a very bright future in the game if he listens and learns from the players, he now has around him in the first team dressing room. He is very comfortable on the ball and his work rate fits in with exactly what we want from players in our squad. He is a testament to himself and his family, but also to Matt (the U16s manager) and all the hard work he has put into nurturing the next generation of talent at Eastwood and as we always say, the future is very bright at Eastwood CFC! He will go straight into the squad on Saturday which shows the faith everybody at the club has in his ability.”

“We are hoping for a big turn out from the Eastwood faithful, we look forward to hearing your support as always!”

“Up the red badgers!“

Player Watch: A notable player to keep an eye on is leading goal scorer Benjamin Tilbury, the front man has scored nine goals in seven-teen starts including three in his previous three appearances.

Previous Meetings: Saturday will be the first meeting between the two teams, with Eastwood only ever having played a side from the MFL in a competitive match once, that came in the previous round when the Red Badgers knocked out Dudley Town.

Squad Update: Ryan Tait, Lavell White, Ben Gowing, Marcus Marshall and Kameron Campbell are all sidelined. Oliver Robinson returns from holiday Saturday night, Jack McDowell is away, Jermain Hollis is suspended and Aaron O’Connor will face a late fitness test. Despite all the absentees Martin & Daryll are happy with the players available with Kamani Wilson, Steven Beejer and Daniel Fletcher all returning to the squad. New signings Thomas Hodgkinson and Alex Troke are also available as is Tom Maddison who could make his debut. Tyler Blake sat out training on Tuesday night but is fit enough to be named in the 18 hoping to score for the fourth game in a row.

Saturday 2nd December 2023
FA Vase Third Round Proper
Eastwood CFC vs Stourport Swifts
3pm Kick Off
Coronation Park, Chewton Street, Eastwood NG16 3BN
£7 Adults
£5 Concessions
FREE Under 16’s (with a paying adult)

#RedBadgers