Grand Fort Road neighbours clash in Stranger Cup semis
THE stakes are even higher than usual for tomorrow’s Grand Fort Road derby, as Northerners and Vale Rec clash with a place in the Stranger Cup final up for grabs.
Jose Alvarez’s team will play host to Mark Romeril’s men for the third tie between the two sides this campaign, while Rovers will play against Sylvans in the other last four fixture.
Rovers and North were the two sides who came out on top in their respective Stranger groups, both claiming maximum points from their three matches, while Mike Garnett’s Sylvans produced arguably the shock of the first few rounds of games as they overcame Saints to make it to the semis for a second straight year.
North have the head-to-head advantage over Vale Rec so far this season, as they thrashed the Corbet Field outfit 7-0 in the league early on in the campaign before securing a narrow 2-1 victory in the second game between the two after extra time in the FA cup.
Vale Rec come into the tie in decent form, though, winning three of their four games since the turn of the year.
‘We are in a good place and looking forward to playing in a semi-final,’ said Mark Romeril.
‘It is definitely still early days in terms of what we are trying to build at the club, but we want to get used to playing in these kind of big games so it’s definitely very exciting.
‘To reach a final at this stage would obviously be fantastic, but we know how difficult it is going to be playing against a team like North.
‘We will prepare the best we can and hopefully put in a performance.
‘We also had a decent January, having won three games, and we have genuine competition for places now, but the group knows that they have to be together to achieve anything.
‘Joe Blackham has picked up what we hope is a minor hamstring issue but everyone else is looking good.’
In tomorrow’s other Stranger Cup semi-final, the Priaulx League leaders host Mike Garnett’s Sylvans at Port Soif.
‘We are in good form, so I am really looking forward to the game and the chance to get to a big cup final,’ said Rovers boss Kevin Gillease.
‘The squad is looking strong and everyone is in a good place and enjoying their football at the moment.
‘Each win breeds confidence and we are looking for that same hunger and drive for this one.
‘We have never won the Stranger so the chance to create a little bit of history is all of the motivation that we need.’
The table-toppers will start as favourites after coming out on top against tomorrow’s opposition two weeks back in the league with a convincing 6-1 victory, although the Rovers head coach remains extremely wary of the threat that the westerners could pose.
‘I am expecting a much tougher game against Sylvans than a fortnight ago – they were missing a lot of players and we were also very good on the day,’ he said.
Sylvans currently sit second-from-bottom in the league with just four wins from their first 14 games, but manager Mike Garnett said that cup success was his main priority after they advanced to the next stage of the tournament with their victory over St Martin’s.
Both Stranger Cup semi-finals kick off at 2pm on Saturday.
