The only goal arrived on 89 minutes when Rodrigo Goncalves made the most of a poor Deeping Rangers clearance in midfield, to latch onto the ball, and coolly slot past Dan George in the Rangers goal. Up until that point, the two sides and been evenly matched and had traded clear-cut chances throughout a frantic second period. A sterile opening half had seen plenty of endeavour, but little end product from both sides. However, the contest burst into life in the second half. It was our first league victory over our South Lincolnshire rivals since 2016/2017 and only our 4th victory overall in 29 previous league meetings.

Manager Tom Ward made just one change from the 3-1 victory over Leicester Nirvana at the weekend with Mitch Griffiths - starting his first match since the home match with Sherwood Colliery – replacing the unavailable Kyle Watkins. Joe Smith and Ryan Rushen meanwhile returned to the bench, with Ryan Anderson the one to drop out of the squad altogether. Deeping meanwhile had only one league victory to their name but were victorious in the FA Vase Preliminary Round on Saturday, defeating league rivals Heanor Town 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 normal time stalemate.

The opening 10 minutes of the contest set the tone for what was a frustrating period for both sides. The Greens created the first meaningful opportunity after seven minutes when Carl Adiku drove through the middle of the park before dinking in an onrushing Mitch Griffiths who scooped his effort up and over the bar. At the opposite end, Deeping had a golden opportunity of their own to open the scoring on 11 minutes when Ben Seymour-Shove found space in the box but he blazed his effort high and wide.

From here both sides enjoyed plenty of possession but were lacking in a quality final touch, and the rest of the half was punctuated only by a series of half-chances. First a long distance Joe Butler pop-shot was easily collected by Dan George before the ball fell to Charlie Ward from a Jacob Fenton long throw, but his powerful effort was well blocked.

The second period began with far more intent from both sides and three minutes after the restart Rodrigo Goncalves set out his stall, forcing a wonderful save from Dan George after he had chased down a ball that was prevented from going out by the corner flag, turned his man, and let a shot off from an acute angle. We came close from the subsequent corner – Tom Ward rising highest and seeing his header pushed onto the bar via the hand of George. Deeping responded to our quick start and Robbie Ellis first found space in the box and scooped his effort over the bar before he was again involved, this time alongside Sparrow, whose shot was comfortably collected by Flitton.

The breathless opening to the second half continued when the lively Goncalves again found space down the left and cut inside his marker, before sweeping a wonderful effort towards the far post – one that was deflected out for a corner. Again, Tom Ward rose highest from the resulting set-piece and he produced a similar result too, as his header crashed the crossbar and bounced back into the grateful hands of George. Deeping then went close again when Joe Braithwaite couldn’t clear his lines and Eyett came in, hitting his effort wide of the post.

The game then settled down a little, somewhat punctuated by a series of substitutions from both sides, and it was one of those that created the next opportunity for the away side when Luke Steele showed a great turn of pace to drive forward and ultimately hit a tame effort into Flitton’s hands. Goncalves was then involved again when his powerful effort from outside the box was deflected wide, before Shaun Harrad couldn’t quite wrap his foot around a cross at the back post.

The games only goal then arrived as the clock ticked towards 90 minutes and it was our attacking live-wire that claimed it. Goncalves, benefitting from a knock on off the head of a Deeping player, and through one-on-one with George, whom he slotted the ball past with excellent composure to give us a late lead – one they would not give up during stoppage time.

A three point haul sends us top of the United Counties League Premier Division North - the first time we have topped the table since 2nd September 2015 after four wins from the opening six games propelled us to the summit. We went on to record our highest placed finish in the United Counties League that season, ultimately finishing 7th on 68 points. The hope will be for another record breaking campaign this time around. Five wins from six games has seen us take ownership of the box seat, and should this squad continue in this vein throughout the season, they’ll be sure to smash that record 7th place and by some margin too.

We now, once again, have a free weekend as scheduled opponents Kimberley Miners Welfare continue their FA Cup campaign. We return to action a week Saturday on the 10th of September with a 1st Round League Cup tie at Holwell Sports, kick-off is 3.00PM.

Words: Oliver Atkin