We take a look forward to tomorrow’s FA Cup Preliminary Round tie at Goole AFC. We will look into recent head to head matches, recent FA Cup runs and we also speak to Gavin Rothery about what the cup means to him, plus much more!
The Colls beat Goole at the end of our mid season friendlies, winning the game by five goals to three. The goals for Ponte came through Eli Hey, Ben Gordon, Mikey Dunn, Vaughan Redford and an own goal.
Our best FA Cup run occurred in 2019-20, Ponte eventually defeated Hebburn Town in the preliminary round. They needed a second leg to do so. The Colls progressed to the Second Qualifying round creating history for the club, after they beat Glossop North End. Sadly this was the end of the road, as Northern Premier League opposition Ashton United knocked us out with a 1-0 defeat.
Goole AFC’s best FA Cup runs saw them reach the Second Qualifying round in both 2000/01 and 2005/06.
Earlier today we caught up with Gavin Rothery;
The FA Cup starts for us this weekend, what does the FA Cup mean to you?
The FA cup is massive for everyone involved. It’s a great competition to be in and to get a good run would be great for the club, players and fans. It’s a nice distraction from the league games and can really help to build some momentum alongside the league games.
What are your best memories of the cup?
I’ve got a few good memories in the FA cup. Playing at the stadium of light in the 3rd round for Barrow in front of 30,000 fans was pretty special even though we lost! I’ve still got David Healy’s shirt from the game which was a nice reminder too.
We had a good cup run when I was at Guiseley one year, I remember scoring a decent goal against FC United and celebrating in front of their fans who had been giving me some stick all game! That was a nice feeling! I think we got to the first round that year but got battered by Crawley who were big hitters in the league above at the time.
What can we expect from our tie with Goole?
I think it will be a battle and a physical game which goes without saying. They will probably raise their game with us being in the league above, but we’ve got to approach the game right and take all the positives out of the win on Tuesday. Then it’s about making sure we’re in the draw for the next round.
The lads got back to winning ways on Tuesday how will that win help build confidence for this game?
To get the first win on Tuesday was really important for the lads to give them confidence. But to score three goals too, I think was a big factor. I think we can still improve, but it’s a good platform to build on and take in to the game tomorrow.