THE countdown is on for the first competitive match of the new football season for 1874 Northwich.

A promising pre-season build-up leads to 1874 travelling to Colne FC in the extra preliminary round of the FA Cup this afternoon.

This tie will be a good test as both teams will meet each other again in the Northern Premier League West as the new campaign unfolds.

Colne secured a solid mid-table position in the NPL West last season and come into the match off a 2-1 friendly win against FC Halifax, thanks to a Lucas Weaver goal.

Northwich will be confident as they travel to Holt House Stadium after some impressive wins over Airbus Broughton FC, Cheadle Heath Nomads and Llandudno FC.

Also in the last few days, the 1874 management team of Wayne Goodison, Paul Bowyer and Jamie Reed have welcomed some key new players, with Matty Fenton, Jamal Crawford, Ahmed Ibrahim and Max Davidson joining the first-team squad.

Northwich Victoria will also be in FA Cup action, on the road against Squires Gate.

For Vics it will be their second game of the season, having lost 1-0 at home to Avro in the North West Counties League Premier Division at the weekend.

Defender Joe Camozzi is eager for the team to put Saturday’s loss behind them.

“It’s a game of fine margins. It could have gone wither way on Saturday I think,” he said.

“Overall I think we should have got something out of the game.

“The lads were really disappointed afterwards. They gave 100 per cent but ultimately it wasn’t to be.

“We’ve got to put it behind us and move on.

“It’s a long, long season so we’ve got to put that behind us and hopefully we can have a good cup run and also a good league run.”

Vics will go into the tie having announced midfield terrier Christian Mather has been signed back on for the 2022/23 season.

Witton Albion lost 1-0 at home to Atherton Colls in their final warm-up game to the new campaign on Tuesday.