Chris Bolder wants his North Ferriby players to rise to the occasion in the FA Vase and potentially give their barred supporters something to look forward to.
Ferriby host Lower Breck in the second round on Saturday, behind closed doors because of Tier 3 restrictions affecting Hull.
If Ferriby can see off their North West Counties opponents, the third round ties are scheduled to be played before Christmas on the 19th December. A further victory would set up a fourth round battle in January.
With the next Government review of the Tier allocations on the 16th December, Ferriby fans could be back for the next round if Hull are downgraded to Tier 3 and Bolder’s men win on Saturday.
“The lads really appreciate the backing we get from our spectators,” Bolder told Non League Yorkshire.
“Our spectators are brilliant and they have stuck with the Football Club through difficult times and good times. They are knowledgable fans and they get it and they are brilliant with the lads.
“The lads are gutted the spectators won’t be there and hopefully it will give them that drive to go on and win the game and fingers crossed, you never know, by the 19th spectators may be allowed in.
“It will be something exciting to come back to for them. The Vase run has been brilliant so far and the last game we played was in the FA Vase against Wythenshawe and we won that in dramatic fashion.
“I think in terms of what we remember about football at the minute is a thrilling encounter at Wythenshawe and being able to win on penalties. That’s our last memory of football and we’re looking forward to this Saturday.
“It is nice to think we can win comfortably in normal time this time, but we’re not naive because we know they (Lower Breck) will be a really strong outfit and we’ll have to be at the top of our game.”
More than a month ago, just hours before Boris Johnson’s announcement of a national lockdown, Ferriby came from two goals down at Wythenshawe Town before winning 5-4 on penalties after heroics from goalkeeper Jordan Douglas.
Ferriby have not trained or played since and Bolder admits the Lower Breck clash being played three days after the end of the lockdown is far from perfect. But he agrees one consolation is that the North West Counties Division One North leaders are in the same boat.
“It has been really tough to prepare,” he said.
“We’ve kept in touch with the boys and we have done a couple of Zoom fitness sessions where it was nice to see each other on the end of a camera to keep the team spirit maintained.
“We have a team training session on the pitch tonight (Thursday) which will be our first training session together and hopefully we can pick up where we left off.
“it is going to be difficult and it is about the balance of getting training right and not going too mad and ensuring players don’t get too fatigued for Saturday, but also doing enough to get them back into the groove.
“It is not ideal preparation, but all you can say is both teams are in the same situation. We’re sure just glad to be able to play a game of football and have something to work towards.
“It is going to be really nice to see the lads again and get back playing football. It is going to be little strange occasion because we are going into it, firstly without spectators, and the knowledge of that our league campaign isn’t going to get going until January minimum.
“It is like approaching a one-off game. If we win, the incentive to play again on the 19th is there. But it will be a really tough game, we know that.
“I think all you can ask for in these cup competitions is a home draw and then get someone on the equivalent level to you which is what we have got.
“We know they are going to be a very strong outfit. They have played four, won four, scored 15 and only conceded three in the league and it will be a strange game because they are in the same position as to us having not played much football this season and having being without games or training for a significant period of time.
“It could have a training match feel to it and people have seen already the Premier League games without spectators and it is a weird spectacle unless you put the background noise on. I’m sure once as the game gets started, the game will generate its own atmosphere and its own buzz.”
The FA Vase tie is being held, despite the ban on spectators and the news the Toolstation Northern Counties East League have suspended their season until at least January.
Bolder was surprised by the new rules on spectators in Tier 3 areas and whilst the latest suspension increases fears of the season ending abruptly, the Ferriby boss believes a complete campaign is possible.
“I thought they would look at the systems they had in place previously where teams in Tier 3 could have local fans in,” he said.
“The regulations were all put in place and they’ve now said teams in Step 7 can have spectators as long as they follow the rule of six.
“Well surely Steps 3 to 6 clubs would have better policies and procedures in place to deal with anything. So that was disappointing to learn that no fans were allowed at Steps 3 to 6.
“I think there is hope that things could change soon. They are talking that nationally numbers are on the decline and they reckon the virus is under control.
“The NCEL have made a sensible decision to not reconvene until the 2nd January and hopefully that gives a bit of time for a greater number of teams to move into Tier 2 which makes the season a little more feasible and more likely that we will see a proper conclusion.
“I think they are going to have to extend the season, it is just until when? Everybody would be happy with that, even if we had to have a shorter off-season to next season. I think a lot of people would jump at that opportunity.
“If teams end up playing Saturday-Tuesday through to June so be it. The prospect of another incomplete season is not what people want.”
If or when the NCEL Division One season does return, Ferriby sit in fourth place and Bolder agrees his side are well-placed to continue their promotion bid.
“We’ve done alright,” he said.
“We were disappointed to lose our last home game (to Winterton Rangers), but prior to that we put in a fantastic away performance at Campion.
“In terms of our points-per-game ratio we are well on course to be where we want to be. We know that if we can maintain that average over the course of the season, whatever that looks like, I’m sure we will be there or there abouts come the end of the season.
“We’re happy with our league form and whilst we were disappointed with our last league game we felt we put a lot of stuff to bed in the Wythenshawe game.
“We feel we are in a strong position, but we’ve seen that there is some strong teams in the Division and it will be as strong as ever.”
If you have enjoyed reading Non League Yorkshire over the past few months, please consider making a donation to the not-for-profit organisation NLY Community Sport which provides sport for children and adults with disabilities and learning difficulties. CLICK HERE to visit the JustGiving page. There is a video at the bottom of the page showing our work.
NLY Community Sport, run by James Grayson and Connor Rollinson, has always had combatting social isolation at the top of our objectives when running our Disability Football teams. When we properly return to ‘action’, our work will play an important role in reintroducing our players, who have disabilities and learning difficulties, back into society.
We have six teams, a mixture of Junior and Adult teams – Nostell MW DFC, Pontefract Pirates, Selby Disability Football Club and the South Yorkshire Superheroes (Barnsley) – across Yorkshire.
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