Northern Counties East Football: Turner to lead line for Sheffield side Hallam FC at North Ferriby in opening clash

Earlier this year football lawmakers agreed that the temporary dismissals could be trialed in football but not at the highest level.

So the FA have opted to try out the new rule which that be enforced in tier seven, which includes the NCEL Premier and Division One, and below. Sunday leagues and Youth leagues will also be involved.

The sin-bins will only apply to yellow cards shown for dissent, and will leave teams playing a man short for a ten-minute period. It is the same punishment that has proven to be a success since being introduced in rugby union.

The Governing bodies are hoping it will help stamp out the growing incidents of abuse towards referees and their assistants by players and managers.

They believes a swift punishment of time off the pitch could forces those responsible a cooling down period and help clean up their act by showing more respect to officials.

The sin-bin caution will not attract the normal £10 administration fee as cautions for dissent currently do.

This put the focus purely on changing behaviour say the FA.

Looking ahead to the weekend’s big kick-off, having just missed out on promotion last term Hallam are likely to be amongst the front runners once more despite losing last season top scorer Keiran Watson.

Steve Whitehead’s side start with a tricky away test at newly formed North Ferriby, formed from the ashes after the demise of North Ferriby United.

With forwards Jake Currie and Ben Thornton also gone, Whitehead has made a late swoop for the much travelled Jordan Turner.

Turner is a proven goal scorer with a fiery temperament that has on occasions been his undoing. But his ability to find the net is not in doubt have scored regularly for the likes of Worksop Town, Pontefract Collieries , Maltby Main and Sheffield FC to name a few in the past.

It will be a much changed Penistone Church side that starts at home against league newcomers Silsden following the loss of number of high profile players lured away to play higher up the football pyramid.

Church boss Ian Richards though is delighted with how the rebuilding has gone and is looking forward to the big kick-off said: “It’s been a good pre-season, very competitive. Integrating new players into the squad and getting match fitness. It’s probably been the most important one since we joined the NCE league because of the high profile players that have left and because of the success we had last season and we want to build on that success.

“We’ve signed 12 new players and promoted three or four from the reserves. I’m really pleased with the new players they’ve brought a freshness and energy to the changing room.

“Because we don’t have the the financial power of other teams in the league we have to work harder to look for the hidden gems and rough diamonds.

“In terms of the upcoming season our ambition is to be better than the previous year and to do that we’ll have to finish top. We’ll be ambitious and try to finish top but if we can’t do that then we’ll try and get one of the other promotion places (3) that are available this season.”

Its the start of a new era for Handsworth FC. The club have dropped the name Parramore and also have a new management team in place with the experienced Russ Eagle in the dugout. He will be assisted by Luke Forgione and coach Aiden Spowage.

The Ambers start the campaign at Garforth Town where they will be hoping to go one better than last term when they came away with a point from a goalless draw.

Parkgate can look forward to the new campaign with optimism after rounding off a testing preseason with a 2-0 victory over Teversal. The Steelmen open up at Armthorpe Welfare where they will be hoping for a repeat of last season 3-2 win at Church Street.

Fixtures

Saturday: (3pm unless stated)

Toolstation NCEL Premier Division: Eccleshill United v Staveley MW, Garforth Town v Handsworth FC, Goole AFC v Athersley Rec, Maltby Main v Liversedge, Penistone Church v Silsden.

Division One: Armthorpe Wel v Parkgate, Dronfield Town v Worsbrough BA, Hall Road Rangers v Swallownest, North Ferriby v Hallam, Rossington Main v Retford FC.