Toolstation NCEL Division One
October will not define the title race but North Ferriby manager Chris Bolder admits his side are heading into some massive games.
Unbeaten Ferriby visit Glasshoughton Welfare this afternoon before hosting Nottinghamshire-based side Ollerton Town next week.
Crunch fixtures with promotion rivals Selby Town and Hallam finish the month and Bolder agrees the next four weeks are important.
“We said to the boys that we are in good form at the minute but because of the way the league is at the minute you can’t afford to drop points,” Bolder told Non League Yorkshire.
“The title race at this stage looks like it will be involve a number of teams who aren’t going to drop many points.
“It is very difficult and we have a big month against teams who are doing really well and not conceding many goals.
“We go to Glasshoughton (today) who have won two games on the bounce and they had a great result at Selby on Tuesday night.
“We then play Ollerton who are in form as well.
“They haven’t conceded in three games so they will be tough but it is on our pitch.
“Then we have two massive games, firstly against Selby.
“We then finish the month at home to Hallam.
“It will be a tough month.
“I don’t think the title will be decided in October and I don’t think it ever has been decided in October.
“October will definitely have a big influence over the direction (of the title race).
“There will be loads and loads of twists and turns and the weather is going to change and dictate pitches and how certain teams play.
“It is then about catching teams and pitches at the right time.
“There’s no question that it is a big month for us but it is not going to define the season.”
The race for the title is extremely tight and few of the big guns are dropping points.
Leaders Brigg Town have won eight league games on the spin. Ferriby have won seven.
Hallam have won nine on the bounce – scoring 45 times in the process.
But Bolder admits that it is not a three-horse race.
“I think what we are seeing is there’s six or seven teams in the Division who are all flying at the minute and all doing really well having had similar starts and looking like they will be in the mix,” he said.
“Hallam are blowing teams out of the water.
“They have hit really good form and they’re not only just winning games, they are absolutely smashing teams and scoring a lot of goals and not conceding too many.
“They are a team everyone is looking at at the minute.
“You look at Brigg who have made a fantastic start to the season and look extremely strong.
“You look at Nostell who have started really well.
“Other than the blip against Brigg they look a really strong outfit.
“You have Rossington who are strong and are picking up fantastic results.
“They are a good side who play good football and they are there-or-there-abouts at the minute.”
Ferriby drew three of their opening league fixtures before surging on with seven wins on the bounce.
Bolder explained why the wins have flowed.
“We picked up a couple of draws (in August) and in the circumstances you’ll look back at the end of the season and they’ll probably turn out to be good points,” he said.
“You don’t want to be seen to be dropping points but if you look at the scenarios, we were down to ten men in two of the three draws.
“Ten men away from home against Rossington and Hall Road, you’d probably glad for a point in those situations.
“Since then we have gone on a really good run and conceded very few goals and limited teams to very little against us whilst picking up some vital wins.
“We have been playing some really good football and in all our games we have created some good chances.
“Even in the games we have drawn we have created more than enough chances to win the game.
“The big difference at the minute is we’re converting those chances and that’s obviously the key in football.
“We’re in great form and hopefully we can continue that (at Glasshoughton).”
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.
Our work is playing 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.
We have enjoyed great success over the past three years. Several of our players have represented Mencap GB in Geneva, including Billy Hobson from Selby and Greg Smith, whose story is quite inspiring.
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Watch the video below to see highlights from our three years as an organisation. The video was produced for our players at the end of March to remind them of good memories from the last three years.