Journey in the cup begins as Central host Manchester Gregorians

Manchester Central welcome Premier Division side Manchester Gregorians to Seashell Trust as both look set to get their cup campaigns up and running.

Chris Tomkinson’s men finally got their Division One season kickstarted with an emphatic 5-1 triumph over Chadderton Cott last weekend. The win ended their run of going winless in their opening six fixtures in the league.

Ruben Abreu netted his first of the season with his head, whilst Jurgen Sade and Thi-Reece Lenihan shared a double apiece to round off the rout. Lenihan meanwhile now tops the charts for Central for goals scored, prolonging his excellent start to life for the club.

Their recent result has come at a good time for Central who can now take a brief pause from league action and turn their attention to a competition that they came so close to lifting in February.

An agonising defeat to Chadderton Reserves on penalties was a brutal defeat for Tomkinson and his men, who had fought so valiantly to reach the final but a fresh start in the competition gives Central another shot.

The visitors meanwhile have endured a difficult start to their respective season in the Premier Division. Like Central this Gregorians side have only managed to win once but from eight fixtures which came in the 3-2 victory at Springhead.

Since Gregorians have struggled to pick up a point, suffering five defeats on the bounce so a break from league action may be just what this side needed ahead of their first piece of cup football.

It will be encouraging that their four points so far this season have come away from home which may just take the pressure off, but they will be coming to face a side who will be growing in confidence.

And though Gregorians seem to be more effective on the road, they have also conceded a large chunk of their goals away from home which may smell trouble against a team who rank third for goals scored in Division One.

A one-off game however in the cup can typically disregard league form, where upsets can take place and the unthinkable can happen. This contest will face two evenly matched sides together, where both will be looking for passage to the next round.

The last competitive meeting between these two sides came in the 2018/19 season, where Central were able to secure the league double over Gregorians, though it will be the first time since the 2016/17 season since the two sides met in cup competition.

The semi-final tie of the Murray Shield at Platt Lane, Gregorians and Central played out a tense 1-1 draw which led the fixture all the way to penalties. Central did go on to edge the tie, though this next encounter will provide fresh impetus for each side to go on a cup run.