Avro FC (H) – Match Preview

A 5-0 win against Ilkeston has been the perfect result to follow last week's defeat at Curzon Ashton, and hopefully we can win again tomorrow

This game could end 8-8, with both us and Avro being in insanely good goal-scoring form.

However, it could also end 8-0 to us, simply due to how solid our defence has been in almost every match this season

Offensively, no Step 3 side has scored more goals than Avro. Defensively, though, the Vulcans have conceded 20 goals, just two fewer than bottom-placed FC United of Manchester.

We are on 28 scored and 11 conceded, and that +17 goal difference has only been bested by two teams across the entire step.

Cleethorpes is one of those sides, and an unbeaten Real Bedford is the other, so things have been good for us so far.

Adam Boyes, once again, is top of the goalscoring chart, with our striker on 12 goals, meaning he doesn’t just lead the NPL golden boot race, but the entire Step 3 one, too!

Oscar Fletcher has also hit a run of form, with his first goal of the season coming in our 2-0 win against Stockton, and it seems like he only scores bangers too, with his strikes against Stockton, Ilkeston, Alfreton, and Stocksbridge all being great goals.

He’s also scored a penalty, meaning he has joined Louis Johnson in successful spot kicks this season.

At the other end, our clean sheet against Ilkeston is our first league one since that Stockton fixture, but it is nice to get one nevertheless, with some great saves from Josh Mazfari, and some great blocks from our defence as a whole helping us to that part of the result.

Non-League rankings now have us in 100th as things stand, which is crazy when you see that a year ago we were 208th.

Overall, things are good, and fingers crossed we can continue winning games. We’re still 8 games away from the halfway point of the season, though, so a long way to go, and plenty of games to play (+ plenty of points to earn).

Now, onto Avro

There is so much I can say about the side, with their goalscoring form looking eerily similar to ours last season

Since this campaign began, they have:

Put 6 past Bamber Bridge, 4 past Workington, 4 past Leek Town, 5 past Stockton, 4 past FC United, and 5 past Lancaster City

However, they have also shipped 3 away to Alfreton, conceded 4 in the Leek Town fixture, and most recently lost 1-0 to Guiseley, so whilst they aren’t unbeatable, they sure do know how to find the back of the net…usually.

Founded in 1963 at the Failsworth factory of aircraft manufacturer Avro, they spent several decades floating around the Manchester leagues before eventually reaching the North West Counties league for the 2018-19 season.

A second-place finish would then see them promoted again, before a win against Lincoln United in an inter-step playoff saw them promoted to the NPL West for the 23-24 season.

They would then win the play-offs last season, after a dramatic final day where they would beat Darlaston 13-0, though a win for Bury would mean that the Vulcans were still unable to end the season in 1st

They did, however, win the play-offs, beating Lower Breck and Stalybridge Celtic, and this earned them promotion to Step 3 for this season.

This also means that after tomorrow, we will have played all 3 promoted sides, and all three matches will have been played at Green Lane, too.

A 0-0 against Bury and a 0-0 against Emley are the other two results, so… oh, this game against Avro is going to end 0-0

If we do come away with another three points, we will also need Guiseley to beat Cleethorpes, as that would put us back in 1st place.

However, Guiseley are three points behind us, with the title race currently seeing 10 points separate 1st and 7th

But, overall, it is a simple case. We hope to see you tomorrow at Green Lane for another league fixture, and hopefully it is another successful one for your Steelmen too!