THE AWAY END - Bishop's Stortford

BISHOP’S STORTFORD

Nickname: The Blues
Manager: Steve Castle
Stadium: ProKit UK Stadium
Capacity: 4,525

It’s a return to FA Trophy action this afternoon as Bishop’s Stortford make the trip to New Lodge. Steve Castle’s side have made a steady start in the Southern League Premier Central, sitting 10th with six wins, one draw, and five defeats from 12 games.

Like Ricay, our visitors were in county cup action on Tuesday night, defeating Kings Langley 2-1 in the Hertfordshire Senior Cup. After an impressive start to the season, winning their first four league matches, Stortford have since picked up just two victories in their last eight, against Needham Market and Redditch United respectively. Prior to midweek, Castle’s side had suffered successive league losses to Spalding United (4-1) and Worcester City (2-0).

Our opponents have already dispatched Isthmian Premier opposition in this season’s FA Trophy, cruising past Cray Wanderers 4-0 thanks to a brace from Nahum Melvin-Lambert and further goals from Saleem Akanbi and Mark Haines.

It’s been three seasons since the sides last met, with the most recent New Lodge encounter coming in September 2022 when Ricay fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2. The reverse fixture in February 2023 went Stortford’s way, as they recorded a 2-0 win on their march to the league title. Current Ricay players Frankie Merrifield, Matt Johnson, and Jay Porter all featured that evening, with Merrifield netting the second goal.

We’ll be hoping for a different outcome this afternoon with those familiar faces now in Billericay blue, and with Danny Scopes’ side losing just one of their last seven outings, this promises to be an intriguing and hard-fought cup tie.

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