YELLOW'S FA CUP ADVENTURE BEGINS AT HOME TO YAXLEY

 HUCKNALL TOWN V YAXLEY

FA CUP EXTRA PRELIMINARY ROUND

SATURDAY AUGUST 2ND 2025 15.00 KO

MATCH PREVIEW

Hucknall Town's FA Cup adventure begins with a home tie against UCL premier South division side Yaxley. It is the first time the two teams have met in any competition (unless anyone knows different.)and as such are a bit of an unknown quantity.

Yaxley are based in Cambridgeshire just South of Peterborough just off the A1(M)so have quite a long journey tomorrow. Nick named the Cuckoos they play in blue at home and red away. Established in 1962 their home ground has an unusual name in being called Leading Drove and has a 4g pitch installed in 2011.

As recently as 2017/18 Yaxley won the UCL Premier division South and were promoted to Div 1 of the Southern League Central. being moved across to the Midlands Division of the Northern Premier League for the 2021/22 season. Yaxley have the distinction of appointed the youngest ever manager in English football when 20 year old Sammy Mould became manager in January 2023. He was only to hold on to that post for 3 months and Yaxley were relegated back to the UCL premier South at the end of that season. 

Last season saw them finish 17th of 19 teams( Coganoe united disbanded before the end of the season) with a record pf

played 36 winning 10 drawing 4 and losing 22 with a SD of minus 31

In their 2 league games this season they started with a 1 1 draw at home to Northampton O.N Chenecks FC (yes Honestly) and a 3 nil home defeat v Leicester Nirvana on Tuesday evening.

Hucknall will be looking to do better than last season when they went out at the first hurdle at home to a very good on the day Bottesford Town and will certainly be buoyed by a good performance on Tuesday in defeating Belper 4 1. 

The winners will pick up £1,125 and the losers £375. If the match is level at 90 minutes there will be a replay at Yaxley on a date to be confirmed but must be played on or before Thurs 7th August. There will be no extra time played on Saturday.

Safe travels to our visitors.

HUCKNALL BOUNCE BACK IN STYLE TO GET THE POINTS AT BELPER

BELPER UNIED 1 HUCKNALL TOWN 4

GCE HIRE FLEET UCL PREMIER NORTH

TUESDAY 29.07.25 20.00 KO

MATCH REPORT

TEAMS:

Belper United:                                                                  Hucknall Town:

Officials: Peter Brothwell, Rhys Watkinson, Al Parker.

Attendance: 142

Hucknall bounced back in style from Saturdays home defeat against Blackstones to post their first league victory of the season against Belper United at Eastwood's CFC's Coronation Park on Tuesday evening.

Everything that was wrong on Saturday was put right, accurate crosses, excellent finishing and an upbeat performance in which every player contributed.

Hucknall started brightly and were ahead after only 2 minutes when Joe Ashurst was played in and put the ball through the home keepers legs from a tight angle. 

The lead only lasted for 5 minutes though as Belper's Dunkley powered his way through the middle of the Hucknall defence lofting the ball over the advancing Smith-Eccles into the net. Dunkley was clattered after shooting and though after treatment he carried on but was replaced shortly afterwards by Harry Banks.

Hucknall carried on with their upbeat tempo and a fine header from Brad Wells following a great cross from Ashurst put Hucknall back in front on 13 minutes.

Hucknall were in no mood to let this lead slip and had a good period of possession which included a long range effort by Brad Lathall and a header by Wells from an Ashurst corner which went over. 

The home side went close on 39 minutes, Smith-Eccles well positioned to save a header from a corner.

Five minutes were added on due to a couple of injuries that needed treatment and these moments provided drama. First Belper were reduced to 10 men when a red card was shown to ex yellows player Daniel Odunaiya for an apparent elbow on Reece Sugars but the general opinion in the crowd thought Belper's captain Bryant had committed the offence.

Worse was to follow for Belper as right on the stroke of half time Niall Towle produced a fine header that looped into the Belper net. Brad Lathall with the assist providing a great cross to the Hucknall front man.

Half Time: Belper 1 Hucknall 3

Belper came out second half determined to achieve something but nothing much in the way of chances happened/

Hucknall made changes on 58 mins with Tefera being replaced by Dunkley and Rawson going off for Rowe.

Hucknall went very close to making it 4 when Captain Short's ferocious shot came back off the post with the keeper looking on helpless/

On 65 Joe Ashurst's great display was brought to an end with him going off for Luis Parkes. Lewis Belgrave was then replaced by Ethan Hulley.

The tide could have been turned when on 76 Mins Mazhi Simmons was shown a straight Red for a silly kick out on a Belper player to give Belper renewed hope.

However 3 mins later Hucknall put the game to bed when Lewis Parkes produced a cool finish when played through on goal.

Sam Sims came on for Brad Lathall to bolster the midfield but there was no further drama and Hucknall ran out time to claim a good victory.

Belper's second 4 1 defeat in 2 games having suffer the same result at Grantham and they really need to work on there defensive side of their play.

Elsewhere results meant that only 2 teams have 100% records after only 2 games. Newark town who have scored 9 goals in their 2 games and host Hucknall in our next league game and Deeping Rangers who seem to have put last seasons poor display behind them'

Yellows attention now turns to the FA Cup and an extra preliminary round game at home to Yaxley of the UCL premier south division, a team I don't think we have played before.

YELLOWS ON THE ROAD TO BELPER SEEKING TO GET POINTS ON THE BOARD

 BELPER UNITED V HUCKNALL TOWN (@EASTWOOD CFC)

GCHE HIRE FLEET UCL PREMIER NORTH

TUESDAY 29.07.25 20.00 KO

MATCH PREVIEW

Hucknall get a swift chance to bounce back from Saturdays disappointing opening league game defeat at home to Blackstones when they make the short journey over the Eastwood CFC's Coronation Park to play ground sharing tenants Belper United.

Belper themselves will be hoping for a better display after a 4 1 defeat at Grantham Town on Saturday. 

Belper of course are no strangers to Hucknall in recent times having pipped the Yellows for promotion in our old Central Midlands days 2015-16 season. Sweet revenge for Belper following the Yellows 2 nil league cup semi final victory the previous season which saw Hucknall go on and win the trophy. There has always been a keen rivalry between the two teams.

Last seasons fixtures were quite strange affairs as Belper dealt out a thrashing on the Yellows at the RM Stadium running out 5 2 winners which also happened to be our second league game of that campaign. Hucknall gained revenge with a 2 1 victory in the reverse fixture at the start of March. 

Belper had a decent start to last season and headed the table early doors eventually finishing 8th four places above Hucknall with a record of 

played 38 winning 19 drawing 3 losing 16 with a GD of plus 13

A good effort on their part and I'm led to believe they have retained most of the squad that achieved this.and have made at least 5 additions.and ex Radford manager Marko Markelic has joined the management team.

Belper's pre-season has included a 3 2 win at Dunkirk where the Yellows lost in pre-season to a pretty solid Dunkirk unit. Also a 2 nil defeat at Mickleover FC, a 5 nil defeat at South Normanton.and a game against Belper United I can't find the score for.

Predicting a difficult game for the Yellows but our brand of football seems to suit 4G pitches and I hope this continues tomorrow. 

Information.

KO 8PM

Venue. Eastwood Town CFC NG16 3HB

Admission Adults £7

Concessions £5

Under 16 free with paying Adult

Weather Forecast Light rain showers and light winds at KO but improving as the game goes on

Belper's Twitter is very much active

Belper's Facebook is out of date (last post March 2nd)

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belper_United_F.C.

SMASH AND GRAB BLACKSTONES TAKE THE POINTS

 HUCKNALL TOWN 0 BLACKSTONES 1

GHC HIRE FLEET UCL PREMIER NORTH

SATURDAY 26.07.25 3PM KO

TEAMS

HUCKNALL TOWN: 1 Alfie Smith Eccles 2 Mazhi Simmons 3 Dillon Rawson 4 Lewis Belgrave 5 Aaron Short (capt) 6 Reece Sugars 7 Surafel Tefera 8 Brad Lathall 9 Niall Towle 10 Joe Ashurst 11 Brad Wells SUBS: 12 Sam Sims 14 Ethan Hulley 15 Cashmere Rowe 16 Calrick Dunkley 17 Trevell Lindo

BLACKSTONES: 1 Max Pevrell 2 Logan Robinson 3 Dan Wilson 4 Harry Peasgood 6 Jamie Short 7 Josh Sennett8 Cam Harris 9 Nathan Rodman 10 Will Bestwick 11 Josh Barrett SUBS: 12 Edmunds Grunsteins 14 Cam Rankin 15 Ethan Simmons 16 Matty Walter

Officials: Referee Lewis Hunt Assistants Kevin Tietsen, Ellis White

Attendance: 284 

Hucknall will feel aggrieved to have surrendered all 3 points in a game where they dominated possession but failed to capitalise in front of goal as Blackstones scored late on with their first real effort on target.

Blackstones kicked off a first half that in truth offered very little. Hucknall had a free kick in a useful position in the third which Joe Ashurst delivered into the box but Captain Aaron Short couldn't direct his header goalwards. The visitors had the first corner of the game on 5 mins but this was cleared. Hucknall had a period of possession and earned a their first corner on 18 mins but Ashurst's kick evaded everyone. Tefera then found Wells the resulting effort being tipped over by Pevrell in the visitors goal. Ashurst then had a corner which again found Short but his effort went wide.

The visitors then had a free kick awarded after a tackle by Simmons on the edge of Hucknall's Penalty box and the home keeper did well to hold onto the ball from the resulting effort.

Hucknall responded with two corners which led to Towle having an effort deflected wide and a Sugar's effort missing the target.

34 mins saw our first yellow card of the season, Aaron Short going into the book after a late challenge.

Just before half time a long ball from the Yellows keeper caused problems for the visiting defence. Towle latched onto it and squared the ball to Ashurst but he just couldn't get a vital touch to turn it in. A corner came to nothing and the half ended nil nil.

The visitors picked up their first booking when Wells was clattered into by Thorpe on 52 mins on the edge of the box. The resulting free kick glanced over by the defence for a corner.which was headed behind by Short for a goal kick.A minute later Tefera cut in from the left and put a curling shot just wide of the post. Rodman was then booked for the visitors on 57 mins for a late tackle on Rawson.

On 58 mins the first changes were made for the Yellows with Simmons and Wells replaced by Cash Rowe and Ethan Hulley.Six minutes later Ashurst and Lathall were replaced by Sam Sims and debutant Calrick Dunkley.

Dunkley's first contribution was to provide a good cross into Towle but his head fell tamely to the visiting keeper.

On 79 mins Tefera made way for Trev Lindo.

Just as the game looked to be heading for a stalemate all of Hucknall's possession went to ruin as Rawson initially won a race for the ball near the corner flag but was dispossessed by the Blackstones man who was then brought down by Rawson as he made his way towards the area. This earned Rawson a yellow card and gave the visitors a free kick in a dangerous place. This was proven when despite initially dealing with the free kick Hucknall failed to clear and Rodman forced the ball home at the far post.to give the visitors the lead sparking scenes of exuberence on the visiting bench.

Hucknall had time to respond but once Towle's header went straight to the keeper from Lindo's cross time was up and Hucknall had somehow been defeated.

Congratulations to our visitors Blackstones on the victory. It was a very similar result to last seasons opener at Sleaford where we dominated possession but succumbed to a late goal. In truth our display was lack lustre and our finishing and crossing was poor on the most part.

Next up is Belper Town away (@Eastwood CFC) on Tuesday 20.00 KO where we will look to improve and get some points on the board before the FA Cup home game next Saturday.

GCE HIRE FLEET UCL PREMIER NORTH DIVISION 2025-26 SEASON PREVIEW

 GCE HIRE FLEET UCL PREMIER NORTH DIVISION 2025-26 SEASON PREVIEW

The new season kicks off today (Saturday 26.07.25) and I predict a very competitive league this time around. We have said goodbye to Lincoln United and Bourne Town who both were promoted and we wish them well at their new level. we also said farewell to Sleaford and Shirebrook who were relegated to step 6 and we wish them well for their new campaigns.

We say hello to Claycross and Blackstones who won promotion from Division 1 and also Sherwood and Grantham who were relegated from Step 4.

Hucknall begin with a home game v Blackstones (see separate Match Preview) before visiting Belper United on Tuesday evening at Eastwood CFC.

The Skegness away game is scheduled for 7th March, the Christmas game is at home to Claycross on the 27th December and our final League game is on April 11th away at Boston Town

Whilst my prediction for us is to have a decent season carrying on from last season I can't see past Sherwood for the title given the strength of there squad. Eastwood will be up there and I will be interested to see how Claycross and Blackstones fare at this level. 

At the bottom I don't want to make predictions but I don't personally feel we will be involved this time around. Someone will be cast adrift as always seems to happen and then one more will fall.

I'd love to see us make the play offs but I will be happy with an improvement on last season once more. 

MATCH PREVIEW HUCKNALL TOWN V BLACKSTONES 26.07.25

 HUCKNALL TOWN V BLACKSTONES

GCE HIRE FLEET UCL PREMIER DIVISION NORTH

SATURDAY 28.07.25 3 PM KO

They say time flies and it doesn't seem five minutes since the Yellows were wrapping up last season with that incredible game at Field Mill which saw us lift the Notts Saturday Senior Cup.

However here we are and we kick off our league campaign with a home game against Blackstones.

Our visitors gained promotion to the Premier North after winning to division 1 play offs last season beating Retford United 3 nil away in the Semi-final and then winning 3 2 away at near neighbours Retford FC to overcome the odds and seal promotion.

Blackstones League record last season was Played 36 winning 21 drawing 5 and losing 10 with a GD of plus 38. 

I don't read to much into pre season friendly results as with ourselves it's a time to try out different systems, trial new players etc etc but for what it's worth Blackstone's PSF's results were as follows.

Blackstones 2 Stamford 1

Blackstones 0 AFC Rushden and Diamonds 2

FC Peterborough 3 Blackstones 0

Blackstones 1 Heacham 2

Hucknall will be pleased that the vast majority of the squad from last season have returned with the exceptions of Dom Forbes who has gone to live in London, Luke Jeffrey who wanted a club nearer his home and has joined Lutterworth Town, Chae Whitman-Brown who was released by Mansfield Town and is trying out at Notts County, Omrreiki Myles who has joined Clay Cross and Matt Scoular who I believe has had his employment moved to the Edinburgh area. I'd like to wish a ll of them the very best for the future and thank them for their efforts in the Yellow shirt of Hucknall.

We also have addition to the squad in Kyle Pemberton and Calrick Dunkley who have impressed in pre-season and have been signed up.

Keeping Niall Towle (AKA Big Nige) is a massive plus as I'm sure there must have been offers from elsewhere. It would have been difficult to replace a 30 plus goal a season striker but it's also good that so many have stayed for another campaign.

Hucknall's pre season results were as follows.

Basford 0 Hucknall 0

Marske 2 Hucknall 3

Dunkirk 3 Hucknall 1

Gedling MW 1 Hucknall 1

Hucknall 1 Notts County xi 5

Hucknall 3 Stapleford 2

Linby 0 Hucknall 1

So the real action starts today and I think this could be a good opener. Blackstones will be looking to make a statement,. Both teams will be looking for a positive start. 

Safe travels to our visitors.