Priaulx preview: Chasers go head-to-head at Northfield

Both Northerners and St Martin’s are eight points behind leaders Rovers, but following their 5-4 defeat in a Port Soif thriller earlier this month, tonight’s hosts are now the outsiders in the three-way contest as they have played a game more than their visitors.

The chocolate-and-blues are also looking to overcome the heartbreak of suffering a penalty shoot-out defeat to neighbours Vale Rec in the Stranger Cup semi-final last weekend, but their coach Jose Alvarez says that his side are ‘ready to bounce back’ this evening.

‘We will go into the St Martin’s game with the same attitude as always – we will focus on ourselves and try to beat them,’ said the North boss.

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‘This team is extremely mentally strong and when we are on it we are incredibly hard to beat.

‘Last week we were missing 15 players and still put in a performance to be proud of in a semi-final, I do not think many teams out there could do the same.

‘Whatever the squad looks like this time around I know anybody on that pitch for us will give their all.

‘We know how difficult it will be, though, Saints are a great team and will also be desperate for another three points, but we will be playing our normal game and just concentrating on ourselves.’

The last meeting between the two teams took place in the Stranger Cup group stages, ending with North claiming a convincing 4-0 win, although Saints come into this clash unbeaten in their last seven in the league.

‘This game is extremely important in the context of our season so we will need 100% from all the lads in all areas of the game,’ said St Martin’s coach Jason Leaman.

‘Everyone knows how dangerous North can be, so we need to be switched on.

‘We are missing a couple of players through injury but apart from that we look strong and all the lads are looking forward to the fixture.

‘We want to continue our league form and three points is the target – a win would be great to get us back on track after a couple of weeks without a game.’

Elsewhere this weekend, Kevin Gillease’s Rovers will be looking to maintain their 100% record in 2023 tomorrow as they play fellow Stranger Cup finalists Vale Rec at the Corbet Field.

The Port Soif side advanced to the final of the competition in comfortable fashion last weekend, seeing off Sylvans 3-1, and have also been successful in their two league outings so far this calendar year – against Mike Garnett’s men as well as North.

‘We’re expecting a tough game, to be honest, Rec got a very good win last weekend so we are looking forward to playing them,’ said Gillease.

‘When they are at full strength they are a very good team – they have so many dangerous attacking options.

‘We’ll be fully focused on ourselves, though, because we are in such a good position in the Priaulx.

‘Our form could not be better at the moment, so we want to keep attacking games and keep winning.'

‘Fin Whitmore has now played his last game for us this season and we have a couple others missing, so we will have to find some different ways to hurt Rec and to hurt teams going forward.’

Rec have also been in impressive form since the turn of the new year, winning four of the five games they have played so far, although they did fall short in their most recent meeting with Rovers in the Stranger Cup last month.

In this weekend’s other fixtures, Rangers will be looking to make it three wins on the trot as they welcome fifth-placed Belgrave Wanderers to the KGV, while Sylvans will be looking to close the gap on Chris Tardif’s men as they host Alderney.

This weekend’s FNB Priaulx League fixtures

Tonight – North v St Martin’s, Northfield, 7.30pm.

Tomorrow – Rangers v Bels, KGV, 2pm; Sylvans v Alderney Nomads, St Peter’s, 2pm; Vale Rec v Rovers, Corbet Field, 2pm.