Home final if Seagulls beat Newcastle

COLWYN BAY will be at home to Curzon Ashton if they reach the play-off final with victory at Newcastle Blue Star on Wednesday (April 29).
The Manchester side pulled off a shock 1-0 win at Skelmersdale United in the other semi-final on Tuesday night and, because they finished below Colwyn Bay in the final table, will have to travel to Llanelian Road on Saturday if Colwyn Bay should win in the North East.
That's a tremendous incentive for both teams and Colwyn Bay have been racing against the clock to try and get Steve Aspinall fit for the game to bolster their chances.
The influential midfielder who played over 200 games in the Conference with Altrincham has missed the last three games with deep bruising to a calf muscle, and manager Neil Young reported: "He has been with the physio for the past two days and we are doing everything we can to get him right. We will leave it until Wednesday lunchtime before deciding if he travels or not."
Lee Davey, however, has recovered from a knee injury and Matty Wood also travels after shaking off a groin niggle which forced his early retirement on Saturday.
Neil Young said the mood in the camp is positive and added that the players deserved to get to a final for the commitment and determination they have shown over the last seven months.
At the end of October, shortly after Young was brought in as manager, the Seagulls had won only three of their 17 games and with three points being deducted for bringing on an unregistered player as substitute in the opening match due to an administrative error, they were third from bottom of the Unibond Division One North.
In the next 26 games they won 19 of them, including an 11-match unbeaten run, to lift themselves into the play-off places and twice won the Division's Club of the Month award.
"Some of the players we brought in had not played at this level before and have had to virtually change their lifestyle to cope with the demands of making the step up from the West Cheshire League," says the manager.
"They were signed really to groom them for next season, but the commitment they have shown has been extraordinary.
"It has been a meteoric rise by the team since November and all the players deserve to be in a final for the effort they have put in."
Long-term injuries to key players like Dave Challinor and Graham Branch, and Tranmere Rovers recalling on-loan midfielder Ashton Taylor, have derailed the train a little in recent weeks, but the manager says: "When you have six of your better players taken out of a small squad it is bound to have an effect, but if we believe in ourselves and if we play like we did in the second half last Saturday (a 1-1 draw at Newcastle in the final league game) then we can go there and win."
The one worrying element is that the team's only goal in the last three matches has been an injury- time penalty last Saturday and the side have struggled to create many clear cut chances in those three games - despite dominating possession in the second half at Newcastle.
"That has been a concern, although the games have been against difficult opponents, but Gary (assistant manager Gary Jones) and I have been looking hard at ways we can address that and make the most of the ability of Dean Canning and Eddie Jebb to run at defences," added the manager.
"We need to be tight at the back to stay in the game early doors and then hopefully make the most of what openings we do create.
"In semi-finals you always need a bit of luck and most importantly a strong referee, as we have had some harsh decisions given against us in recent games, but if the players perform the way we know they can then we can certainly win the game."
Club skipper Dave Challinor, who recently suffered a broken leg in training, is travelling to give the team his support and encouragement.
Colwyn Bay (from): Sanna, Spearritt, Hammond, Brandreth, Jarrett, Williams, Canning, Garside, Hopley, Jebb, McGraa, Wood, Aspinall, Davey, Edwards, Webb, Jackson.