Ryhope will play their first of four consecutive away games (three in the league) against Bishop Auckland this weekend.
After our opening day win away at Newton Aycliffe, Ryhope have now faced three defeats in a row, against West Auckland and Shildon in the league and against Sunderland RCA in the FA Cup.
Tuesday night’s defeat to Shildon was a much improved performance, the game was finely balanced and could have gone either way, Billy Greulich-Smith confirming Shildon’s victory following a counter attack in the 91st minute to make it 2-0.
It’s too early to trust the table, but this start leaves Colliery Welfare in 13th on three points.
Meanwhile, Bishop Auckland won both of their opening league games, beating Whickham 5-0 at home before a 2-1 away win at North Shields. However, they lost 2-0 at home to Pickering Town in the FA Cup.
Our opponents come off the back of a poor term last time out, where they finished 19th on 43 points, just four points above the bottom three.
They have had a much better start to this season and brought in as many as eleven new recruits in the summer.
Ryhope will hope for a repeat of last season’s fixture at Heritage Park, where they beat Bishop Auckland 3-1 thanks to goals from Matty Weirs, James Ellis and Josh Home-Jackson after Shaun Ryder gave Bishop the lead.
Colliery Welfare then completed a double over Bishop in the home game, once again coming from a goal down to win 3-1 thanks to a Micky Rae double before James Ellis once again rounded off the victory.
Northern League Division One
Venue: Heritage Park, Stadium Way, Bishop Auckland, DL14 9AE
Date: Saturday, August 18
Kick-Off: 3:00PM