UP NEXT, after a huge result in the league at the weekend, the first team will take another trip to the Forest Town Arena to face AFC Mansfield, this time in the Nottinghamshire Saturday Senior Cup.

With the sides at opposite ends of the table, people could be forgiven for thinking tonight's result is a foregone conclusion. This, however, will be far from the case as anything can happen in cup competition and both sides will be wanting to progress.

Kimberley go into the match in top form, sitting in second spot in the league and are unbeaten in seven matches in all competition, a run that stretches back to August. They will be keen to see out the whole of September without a loss as well as using this form to carry them into the next round of the cup.

AFC Mansfield come into tonight's fixture in mixed form, having won just twice from their last seven matches in a run that has seen them exit the FA Vase and League cup, but also win against Clay Cross Town and Deeping Rangers. They will see tonight as a chance to progress in the county cup, but also a chance to arrest a sharp dip, having lost their last two matches.

On Saturday, the miners welcomed Newark Town to our temporary home at Basford United in a second vs third match in the league. After an even first half, Kimberley stepped things up in the second and were rewarded with just four minutes of normal time remaining as Fin Ryder broke the deadlock. Five minutes into added time, Raphael Garrett sealed the win, scoring his first goal for the club after being set up by Dan Davy who raced clear from the halfway line and avoided the onrushing goalkeeper as he squared the ball to Garrett who controlled and finished for the win.
Final Score Kimberley Miners Welfare 2-0 Newark Town.

AFC Mansfield’s last match was also on Saturday as they made the trip to Lincolnshire to face Blackstones. Nathan Rudman opened the scoring for Blackstone on sixteen minutes to take the home side into a half time lead. James Matthews did little to help Mansfield’s cause early in the second half as he saw red, reducing the visitors to ten men. Blackstones capitalised on this just four minutes later as Kieran Duffy-Weekes doubled the Blackstones lead. Mansfield scored a goal through Liam Mays just five minutes later to set up a tense final half hour.
Final Score - Blackstones 2-1 AFC Mansfield.

LAST TIME AROUND

Just seven weeks ago, the sides met in the league, also on a Tuesday night at the Forest Town Arena. Two goals from Kole Lambert demonstrated the miners’ dominance in a 2-0 victory that really should have been more. A great performance from the team in white and green.

Last season, sides last met at the end of November last year as they played out a 0-0 draw at the Forest Town Arena. Both sides put in a lot of effort, and it was Kimberley who looked the more likely to take the points. The last twenty minutes were littered with chances on goal as Kimberley pressed for the win, but it was not to be.

The two sides met earlier in the season in mid August at The Stag Ground. A straightforward match for AFC Mansfield saw two goals in each half to give them a 4-0 win on their travels. Ryan Ingram scored twice in the first half, with Gareth Curtis doing the same in the second half.

Before that, the two sides last met in January of last year at the Forest Town Arena in front of just 71 spectators. Jordan Alls gave Kimberley all three points with the only goal of the game.

The two sides met earlier that season in the FA Vase, again at the Forest Town Arena. More goals, but the same result saw Kimberley progress in the competition as Kole Lambert and Luis Parkes scored for the miners, while Keelan Grist scored for AFC Mansfield in front of 62 fans.

The league fixture at the Stag in the 2023-24 season came right at the start of the season, on the first of August under the lights. A comprehensive 3-0 victory for the miners, with goals from Aaron Coyle, Jack Oldham and Luis Parkes doing the damage in front of a healthy 171 supporters.

A LITTLE ABOUT THE OPPOSITION

AFC Mansfield was formed in 2012 and joined the Central Midlands Football League, signing a 10-year rolling deal to play at the Forest Town Arena.

The newly-formed club - nicknamed 'the Bulls' - began their journey in the 2012/13 season, when they fought on four fronts and nearly won the lot.

For the first time in the Bulls' history, they found difficulty in adapting to their new league despite a promising start to the 2018/19 campaign.

The ray of sunshine in the first half of their season was another impressive FA Cup run which ended at a much higher side in Kettering Town, who could only just edge past the Bulls with a 2-1 win despite a very nervy ending.

At the start of the 21/22 season u21 Boss and club captain Phil Buxton was announced as the new AFC Mansfield Boss after Chatfield resigned as Boss to take up a new role elsewhere.

In 2022 founder Andrew Saunders announced that he was leaving the club to pursue a new opportunity. The Bulls were sold to NEFA, an independent football academy headed up by Spencer Fearn and Ryan McKnight. In November 2022 Spencer Fearn transferred his shares to long time director and Bulls Fan Mike Abbs and promptly appointed club legend Phil Buxton as club manager. Club founder Andrew Saunders rejoined the club at the start 23/24 season as director and general manager. The Bulls maintained their place at Step 5 and set about improving the squad for 2024/25.

Honours

Central Midlands League
North Division champions 2013–14
League Challenge Cup winners 2013–14
Nottinghamshire Intermediate Cup
Winners 2012–13
Toolstation Charity Cup
Winners 2017–18

FINALLY

Kimberley will want to keep their fantastic run going, with interest in the league as well as the league cup, FA Vase and tonight’s county cup all in the spotlight. A performance is essential if the boys are to keep themselves in the hat for the next round.

AFC Mansfield will see tonight’s match as respite from a difficult league campaign so far, as well as this being their only remaining cup competition, having been knocked out of the league cup, FA Vase and FA Cup.

We expect a very exciting match and hope for a repeat of the last visit.

There’s plenty of parking and the bar will be open.

Admission is £8 for adults, £5 for concessions.

Kick off is at 19:45

See you there