The Match Background

The Greens make the trip to Premier Division North’s easternmost outpost in buoyant mood too after a convincing 4-0 victory over lowly Deeping Rangers on Saturday afternoon. The Greens were rarely threatened by their struggling opponents and strikes from Tom Ward, Billy Gillies, and a brace from Joe Smith did the damage as the Greens recorded just their second league victory of the season. A third then, will be the primary aim on Wednesday, but it will be another tough assignment placed in the Greens way, with Skegness now emerging as one of the league’s form sides after an indifferent first couple of weeks to the campaign. Form is there to be shot at though, and the Greens will be desperate to follow up Saturday’s promising performance with more points on Wednesday, particularly with Premier Division North’s play-off places already some eight points from the Greens current mid-table anchorage of 12th. Nothing of course, is terminal at this early stage of the campaign, and the Greens have history of bridging seemingly lost gaps as proven at the back end of last season – but Ward eluded in his post-match interview on Saturday that the Greens have to wipe the slate clean and continue in the same vein as the weekends victory over Deeping. It promises to be another intriguing evening on the Lincolnshire coast.

Team News

Player/Manager Tom Ward will no doubt be delighted to see the return of his number one goalkeeper Liam Flitton following his three-game suspension for a sending off against Lincoln United three weeks ago. His place has been ably covered in that time by Jonasz Gadomski who returns to parent club Grantham Town following two clean sheets in three unbeaten games in Green. Ward will hope that Flitton’s return will help build upon a steadily improving back line that has conceded just once – from the spot – in their last three games. Ward himself was able to take a rest on Saturday with the Greens cruising at 4-0 – a novelty he extended to the likes of Jake Henderson, Ben Robson, and Tom Waumsley too. All four are expected to return to the starting eleven on Wednesday as well as Captain Charlie Ward whose inclusion on Saturday after a week away added much-needed grit to the midfield line. He won’t be joined by Kegan Everington though who is still to make his Greens debut after joining from Wednesday’s opponents Skegness Town last week – Everington unable to be involved on due to a historic suspension.

The Opposition

Opponents Skegness Town meanwhile enter in the new Premier Division North campaign on the back of one of their most successful seasons ever. Not one of the fancied sides at the start of last season, the Lilywhites channelled their underdog tag to reach the Premier Division North play-off final and win the United Counties League Knockout Cup at the cost of Premier Division South Champions, Wellingborough Town. That success at the Vertigo Stadium was put down as much to the quality of their squad as it was the ethic and spirit in a close-nit team that peaked after many years together.

It all means that the Lilywhites begin this campaign as one of the favourites to challenge once again and, after a shaky start, are finding their form once again – victory on Wednesday could take back into the play-off places for the first time this season. Three straight defeats in league and cup at the beginning of this campaign wouldn’t have worried Chris Rawlinson and his staff, particularly when the Lilywhites endured remarkably similar at the start of last season, losing their first three Premier Division North contests before recovering emphatically over the mid-season. Now unbeaten in five Premier Division North contests since a 1-0 defeat to Boston Town on July 31st, the Lilywhites have soared back into play-off contention and will be expecting that form to continue as they look to go one better than last seasons play-off final defeat to Loughborough Students.

In much the same vein as last season, Rawlinson will employ a small but spirited squad to take Skegness forward and they appear relatively unchanged from the side that enjoyed such a successful campaign last time out. It is one new face though, Billy Bradley, who has impressed the most, scoring three goals in seven appearances following his summer move from Grimsby Town. He’s tied with the experienced Connor Marshall as the clubs leading scorer so far this campaign, his ability to break up the play and get himself and the Lilywhites forward could be of particular trouble for the Greens tomorrow evening. The departure of goalkeeper Jake Lovelace in summer was maybe the one note of disappointment, but in typical Skegness style, Rawlinson has promoted Calab Pipes-Goulsbra from back-up as opposed to bringing in a new face. There will be many other faces familiar to the Greens too, particularly the experienced Leon Mettam who is known well to Greens gaffer Tom Ward, while winger Marshall Young has gained significant notability from a spell at Boston Town.

Previous Meetings

The Greens were 2-0 victors over the Lilywhites at the beginning of last season. That scoreline didn’t really show the full story at the MKM Ground where Skegness were always a constant threat to the Greens narrow lead, given to them by Jacob Fenton. Elliott Broughton’s 69th minute red card certainly aided the Greens, and it was on the break in stoppage time that Tom Siddons crossed for Fenton to grab his brace and put the result beyond all doubt in front of a bumper 265-strong crowd in NG34. By the time the two sides reconvened just before Christmas at the Vertigo Stadium, the tides had turned significantly, and Skegness displayed their newfound prowess by defeating the Greens 1-0 with a professional display in front of 106 spectators. Scott Floyd was the man who gave the Lilywhites their advantage in just the 4th minute, and that is how it would stay, the Greens just unable to find a route back into the contest. Overall, there have been 60 meetings between the two sides across spells in the Lincolnshire League and the United Counties League, and the Greens just have the edge on the overall record, having won 27 contests to the Lilywhites 23. There have been 10 draws between the sides and overall, 216 goals have been shared, 166 to 100 in the Greens favour.

The Match Details

Admission to The Vertigo Stadium (PE25 2EL) on Wednesday evening is priced at £7 for adults and £4 for concessions, with under-sixteen’s free (alongside a paying adult). Wednesday’s match referee is Jon Barrs, and he is assisted on the day by Lee Crawford and Darren Bierley. Kick-off in Skegness is scheduled for 7:45pm.

Words; Oliver Atkin