MATCH PREVIEW | HALESOWEN TOWN (H) FA CUP 2ND QUALIFYING ROUND

Saturday's at Technica's Home of Grimsby Borough don't come much bigger than this! Despite a number of successful and enjoyable seasons, the one thing The Wilderness Boys and their supporters haven't seen is an exciting cup run.

Due to our encouraging start to the season and three wins on the road in the worlds oldest cup competition that is exactly what we now have. Our next opponents in this record breaking cup run is Halesowen Town. Despite only playing one level higher than us, The Yeltz are no strangers to FA Cup runs, having appeared in the first round proper on an incredible nine occasions, most recently in the 2004/2005 season where they lost to Yeading Town. The winners of this Saturdays tie will take their place in the 3rd round of qualifying and potentially only two wins away from the draw for the first round proper.

Boro fans it is time to dream, it is time to pack out the ground, get behind the lads and be more vociferous than the expected large allegiance making the 300 mile round trip from the West Midlands. 

Both teams were in league action this week with differing outcomes. Our visitors lost 1-0 on the road to Alvechurch leaving them in 13th place in the Southern Premier League Central. Boro however, after being seemingly dead and buried at two nil down in the 90th minute rallied and through injury time goals from Alex Flett and top goalscorer Tom Sawyer, saw us come away with a point from table toppers Bradford Park Avenue. This will surely give the lads belief and momentum heading into this FA Cup tie.

As previously stated we welcome Halesowen Town to North East Lincolnshire with at least two coach loads of supporters expected at Bradley on Saturday. The Yeltz currently play in the Southern Premier League Central and during their 152 year history have won the FA Vase on two occasions and made the semi finals of the FA Trophy, this along with their proven track record in this competition show they are a team for the big occasion and will fancy their chances of progressing to the next round despite their indifferent start to the season.

From their 7 starts in the league this season, they have only recorded two wins and worryingly for our visitors none of them have been on the road! However, they did record a win away from home in the previous round of this competition with a 3-0 victory in the replay at Stratford Town after being held to a 1-1 draw at home in the initial tie.

In contrast Boro sit in third place in the Northern Premier League East following an unbeaten start to the season and will be keen to extend the cup run and create a possibly lucrative tie in the next round. There was both good and bad news on the injury front in West Yorkshire. On a positive note, Dayle Southwell made an appearance from the bench, suggesting the prolific forward is close to a return from injury. However, we have lost Callum Lovett through injury after taking a heavy fall resulting in a dislocated shoulder. Cal will be missed after several solid performances in the back four and we all wish him the best and a swift return to first team action.

I want to sign of with another rallying call, this game is huge, not just for the players, not just for the club but for the town as a whole. To see one of our non-league clubs progressing well in this incredible cup competition is huge, the BBC are starting to televise games from this round, so if we can support the lads and get through there is every chance the Beeb would be interested in a story like ours, a minnow in footballing terms having only been in existence 22 years, progressing well in this competition, so grab your mates, grab your family, even grab the dog, head down to Bradley on Saturday for this 3pm kick off and potentially watch history unfold in front of you.

#oneboro