Wetherby Athletic v Kirk Deighton Rangers Match Preview.

KDRAFC Media
Dec 26, 2019
3 min read

You may have thought that you had received all your presents, but on Saturday we have a final one for you!

The local derby with Wetherby Athletic takes place on the 28th at The Ings with a 2 pm kick-off.

A look at the weather shows that we should be in for a dry day with light crowd and breeze accompanying the game.

Our Opponents.

Over the past few months, our neighbours have undergone a revival that has seen them storm up the table and, at present, they sit one place above us in fourth place with 26 points from a possible 51. A win tomorrow could see them jump into second place, but a win for us could see a change of positions for both teams.

Athletic will be looking to make it three wins in the trot following a 5-2 win over Harrogate Railway Athletic in the West Yorkshire League Cup and, more recently, a 4-1 win over Featherstone Colliery in the league.

At The Ings, Wetherby have won six of the nine games that they have played. They have scored the second-highest amount of goals on home soil with 34 (averaging 3.8 goals scored per home game) and have conceded the joint second-highest amount of home goals with 18 (averaging 2.0 goals conceded per home game)

A look at the stats shows that Josh Wilson is their main goal threat having scored 21 to date. This also puts the youngster top of the overall league goalscoring charts as well!

Head To Head.

This will be the second meeting between the clubs this season will the original game in August ending in a 0-0 draw.

The database shows at least 14 meetings between Rangers and Wetherby sides (Wetherby Athletic, Wetherby Athletic 'A' and Wetherby Athletic Reserves) since 1949 (please note that entries are missing and the total may be a lot higher). From these meetings, Wetherby leads the way with six wins compared to our three.

The last time that the two teams met at The Ings was in March 2019, and it needed a late equaliser from Will Bates to make the scores 3-3. Other goals for us came from Charlie Yates and Adam Carter.

Will Bates brings us level against Wetherby Athletic last season.

Team News For Rangers.

Should this match go ahead, it will end a three-week break from football for us. The one good thing to emerge from the enforced break will be that several players have had time to overcome injuries that they picked up.

As well as dealing with festive and work-related absentees, Manager Dan Marshall won't be able to call upon the services of Joe Barden as the midfielder is serving a suspension following his dismissal against Boroughbridge.

The Man In the Middle.

The referee for this match will be Mr Alan Clough. Mr Clough has been the official in four other games including our 3-1 defeat against Shelley FC.

According to the FA page, Mr Clough is yet to hand out a yellow or red card this season.

Following The Match.

Our media team will be at the match, so if you can't make it but would like to keep up-to-date with the score, please log onto our Twitter feed.

Should you wish to go and watch this game, the address you will need is The Ings, Boston Road, Wetherby, Leeds, LS22 5HA.

We will be presenting our Bennett & Fountain Man Of The Match award to the winning Kirk Deighton Rangers player after the match. Please stay and give the winner your congratulations.

Kirk Deighton Rangers are kindly sponsored by: