A look forward to tomorrow afternoon's home clash with Maine Road as our Vase campaign gets underway.
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Two seasons ago of course we accounted for Norton & Stockton Ancients, Garforth Town and Louth United, and pushed First Division Clitheroe - seasoned Vase campaigners - all the way before going down in a replay.
Last season we played all our three ties at home, and lost out to a late goal against Dunston Federation Brewery from the Northern League, possibly due to a defensive tactical blunder from then manager John Bailey.
Tomorrow's encounter is likely to be a tough one though, as our opponents have started off their season in a similar fashion to ourselves, having collected 18 points from their 8 games to lie one place above us on goal difference.
Indeed, Maine Road have won each of their four away games in the League so far, and, while we managed to complete the double over them last season with narrow 2-1 victories, a thoroughly testing 90 minutes (or more) will no doubt be the order of the day.
Maine Road are nearing their 50th year of existence - they were formed in 1955 - but only joined the North West Counties League for the 1987-88 season, ending a 15-year tenure in the Manchester League.
Three good seasons in the Second Division ended with them winning the title in 1989-90, and they remained in the First Division for 12 seasons, despite many flirts with relegation. In 2001-2 they did go down, but last season they performed well back in the Second, narrowly missing out on promotion with a third place finish.
Maine Road's most successful Vase campaign was in 1994-5, when, as a NWC First Division side, they reached the 4th round before suffering a narrow 2-1 defeat at St. Andrews of Leicester, but generally success in the competition for them has been limited.
They have only managed to progress beyond their first game in the competition on 9 of their 22 attempts. Last season they returned from the North East in the 2nd Qualifying Round with a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Peterlee Newtown, the latest of four consecutive seasons where they have fallen at the first hurdle.
Hopefully they'll go nap on Saturday!
The picture of the FA Vase is taken from the Football Association's official website - www.thefa.org
