Boro Rangers (A) – Match Preview

It's time for the County Cup semi final where we will play our first away game in this competiton as we head to Middlesbrough

Owen Burns, Olly Cann and Chay Liddle will all be facing their former clubs from the opposite sides tomorrow night, hoping to have a hand in getting their team to the final.

A giant-killing Yarm & Eaglescliffe side awaits, with the Div Two team already taking out York City and Scarborough, as well as Division One side Northallerton.

It has been a solid season for Boro Rangers, though, as they currently sit 4th in the table, occupying one of the 4 play off spots.

If the season ended right now, they would be travelling to Whitley Bay, a side who earlier on in the campaign were 1st. Since then, though, Guisborough and Shildon have stormed away from the rest, with the Priorymen 5 points clear at the top.

The predicted table only makes one change to the promotion race, with West Auckland Town being replaced by Kendal Town.

Boro Rangers are still predicted to remain where they currently are, losing just one of their final three fixtures, as they are estimated to fall away to Penrith.

The side is somewhat new to Division One, too, with their first season occurring in the 2023-24 campaign.

Last season, they finished 3rd, bagging them a playoff spot, though they lost to newly promoted Newcastle Blue Star, who lost to a Blyth Town side who had also just been promoted.

Though with Whitley Bay being the second most northernly side in the league, there is a hurdle when it comes to travelling away, and so it will be a tough task to achieve promotion once more, though manager Ben Wheatley is accustomed to going up, having done so 4 time since joining the side in 2014

As for us, well, now we have the trophy, there are only records to be broken, points to be earned, and this County Cup to win. An FA competition run would have been an additional bonus, but you can’t complain about the league campaign.

A bonus with the FA competiions is that promotion to Step 3 means we will be starting in the third round of the FA Trophy, as well as the first round of qualifying of the FA Cup, meaning we will instantly go the furthest we’ve ever gone in the Trophy, as well as knwoing just one win in the Cup puts us the furthest ahead there, too.

Imagine the Steelmen at Wembley…

Anyway, back to now. Bosh’s goal on Monday was his 40th league one, which is a truly stunning milestone, and Louis Johnson’s goal was his 22nd, putting him level with Long Eaton’s Evan Garnett

Unsurprisingly, Bosh is miles clear of 2nd place, with that spot occupied by our own Brad Fewster

16 goals separate Bosh and Brad, and with just three matches to go, I think we can say Adam Boyes is the NPL top scorer (Yes, that is including NPL Premier, East, Midlands, and West)

A rise in attendances has been pushing us further up that table, with the Steelmen now sat in 9th across the league, averaging 370 fans at home

It will be interesting to see the attendances we get at the level above, with potential trips to Bury, FC United of Manchester, and Hednesford, all seeing us go to grounds that attract an average of at least 1,800 fans

Our final three league matches have us travelling to Pontefract and North Ferriby, with a home match against Blyth Town sandwiched between those two

Hopefully, we see you at every single match we have left, and hopefully that includes a cup final

All the best, see you tomorrow, and up the Steelmen!