by Amber Army on Fri Sep 24, 2010 11:55 am
News item
Cup Fever Builds In New Mills
The excitement is building in the High Peak as New Mills prepare to face Harrogate Town of the Blue Square Bet North in this Saturday's FA Cup Second Qualifying Round tie.
For the Millers, this round of the competition is unchartered territory, and logic dictates they start as massive underdogs against a team currently playing three divisions higher. But with the team unbeaten this season and having already accounted for Curzon Ashton of the Evo-Stik in the previous round, Ally Pickering's men will be geared up to enjoy another cracking cup tie at Church Lane.
For the visitors, who are entering the competition at this stage, it's the latest in a long list of FA Cup ties against teams from our league and their record is a good one. In this decade alone, they have overcome Bacup Borough (2000-01), Salford City (2001-02), Great Harwood Town (2002-03 and 2005-06), Holker Old Boys (2003-04) and in 2006-07, Curzon Ashton and Trafford in consecutive rounds.
The season before, in 2005-06, the club had one of its finest moments in recent times when they reached the FA Cup First Round proper, and were drawn away to Torquay United. A 1-1 draw down at Plainmoor meant the teams face d one another in a replay at Wetherby Road. The teams were again deadlocked with a goalless draw after extra time, and Town went out of the competition on a penalty shoot-out.
Coming up to date, at the moment Town occupy 14th position in the Blue Square Bet North, with two wins, three draws and four defeats from their nine league games, although they have gone six games without a win. They have scored 14 times in league games, with strikers Graeme Armstrong and Liam Hardy jointly contributing 11 of those.
The Town squad comprises many experienced non-league names, although perhaps the best known name travelling with the visitors on Saturday will be Chairman Bill Fotherby. He was the driving force behind Leeds United in the 1990's as their Managing Director, during which period the club won the league title in 1991-92 under Howard Wilkinson, in the final season of the old Division One before the initiation of the Premier League.
As the Millers prepare for hosting one of the biggest games in their recent history, Secretary Duncan Hibbert says everyone is looking forward to the game.
"There is a great buzz about the Club this week and the anticipation is starting to build for 3pm on Saturday afternoon for what is probably the biggest game in the Club's recent history.
"I know it's an old cliché, but Saturday's game is our Cup Final and we have nothing whatsoever to lose. Harrogate play in The Conference North which is three steps higher than the Vodkat Premier Division and looking at the respective league positions, people may only expect one outcome. But we're all aware that the magic of The FA Cup has thrown up some unexpected results down the years and with home advantage, who knows what will happen at Church Lane on Saturday.
"I'm sure Ally and Nev will have done their homework on Harrogate and will have prepared the team in their usual efficient manner. It has been an absolute pleasure to watch the players perform this season, and this is a great opportunity for them to play on a higher stage and to test themselves against higher ranked opposition.
"We, as a committee, have been busy publicising the match around the town and surrounding areas and it will be a hectic few days for us trying to get everything organised in time. The team's performances this season deserved to be seen by a bigger audience and I personally hope that any newcomers attending the Cup tie are impressed by what they see and continue to come to Church Lane for their footballing fix on a more regular basis."