PICKERING Town go in search of history tomorrow by reaching the last 16 of the FA Vase for the first time ever.

Alex Mathie's men face Middlesex outfit Brook House at the Recreation Ground as they bid to go one better than the club twice did under previous manager Steve Brown.

Current form, however, suggests they face a stern challenge. While the Pikes' pre-Christmas run of ten successive wins has since hit a downturn, the side from Ryman League division two - thought to be of a similar standard to Town's Northern Counties East League premier status - have not lost for ten games and only once in 18, and have not conceded a single goal in their last six outings.

The sides otherwise appear evenly matched, with Brook House lying third in their table with a game in hand on the two leaders while the Pikes - no doubt hoping their visitors are derailed by the long trip north - are fifth in the NCEL, still with hopes of promotion to the UniBond League.

Mathie said: "Brook House are on a high at the moment whereas we're in a bit of a slump. We have injuries to key payers that we're trying to get prepared for tomorrow."

Ricky Greening has been added to that injury list after breaking down before a reserve game, joining Alex Willgrass, Brian Dutton and Seb Towse on the treatment table. Michael McNaughton, however, will be okay.

A disputed stoppage-time penalty denied Pickering their first win of the calendar year last week at fellow high-fliers Sheffield, who had knocked them out of the League Cup a few days earlier, and Mathie would be hoping that performance, at least in the second half, has set them in good stead for tomorrow.

He said: "The two-week break at Christmas was not needed because we were on a bit of a roll and we've now lost a bit.

"In the Sheffield game we played poorly in the first half but in the second we played well."

He may also be hoping that the Brook House scouts at recent Pikes games returned south with a false picture of their opponents, who are one of only three NCEL sides in the fourth round.

Pickering's title rivals in the NCEL will be expecting to increase the gap between themselves in the Pikes while the latter are in Vase action.

Leaders Selby Town face draw specialists Shirebrook at Flaxley Road.

The visitors, who are sixth in the table, have been beaten only four times in 22 league games - only Pickering have lost fewer - but have drawn ten and need to convert those stalemates into wins if they are to close in on the front-runners.

Selby, though, cannot afford to slip up as the teams below them have games in hand with which to close the three-point gap.

Second-placed Harrogate Railway, buoyed by their top-of-the-table triumph over third-placed Goole - and former Rail boss Paul Marshall - last week, entertain Buxton, while Goole will look to bounce back immediately from that Station View disappointment as they visit Hallam.

Updated: 10:57 Friday, January 21, 2005