Family ties will be firmly set aside on Friday evening when Stonehouse Town and Shortwood United go head-to-head in a highly anticipated Hellenic League Division One West derby at the Ben’s Takeaway Stadium (7.45pm).
In a rare father-versus-son clash, Shortwood manager Peter Beadle will be in the away dugout while his son, Josh Beadle, leads the line for play-off hopefuls Stonehouse Town.
Despite sharing the drive to the ground, Peter insists there’ll be no pre-match chat: “I won’t talk to him before the game, but obviously we’ll shake hands after. It’ll be a quiet moment on the Friday, we’ll go to the game together and then we’ll just see the outcome.”
The family subplots don’t stop there. Shortwood midfielder Elliot Martin is set to face his brother Spencer, while the Magpies’ squad features several ex-Shortwood players, including Josh Beadle, Finlay Byrnes, Nick Humphreys, Dan Gayner, Alex Kibble, Ryan Thwaite and Will Hawes. The Magpies also number former Shortwood assistant manager Matt Tunley in their coaching staff.
Stonehouse boss Adam Coyle is eager to return to league action after a lengthy break: “When Friday comes it will be 20 days since our last league game and 35 days since our last one at home. The cup fixtures have kept the legs moving, but nothing replaces three points being on the line. Having a Friday night game is great for the club and hopefully the weather helps us get a strong crowd in. It should be a good game between two good teams.”
