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The Greens pitch back up in Lincolnshire in fine fettle following five wins in their last six league encounters - including a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Heather St. Johns over the weekend. The Saints mostly belied their lowly position in the United Counties League Premier Division North table and will feel aggrieved not to have gone in at the break in front. The Greens were indebted to goalkeeper Liam Flitton who’s string of fine saves kept the scoreline goalless at the halfway stage. First the young shot-stopper was alert to save James Harrison’s effort well with his feet, before a brilliant hand saw Emile Beckford’s drive tipped onto the crossbar. Flitton then repeated this feat shortly after, this time denying Jack Henchcliffe spectacularly, again diverting an effort onto the crossbar. The Greens heeded their first half warning and were far improved during the second period and scored the decisive goal in the 58th minute when Akeel Francis teed up Joe Smith to guide the ball beyond Matt White in the Saints goal. The scoreline could have been even more comfortable for the visitors were it not for the heroics of White, first denying Jacob Fenton and then following up to deny Francis during the same phase of play.

Player/Manager Tom Ward handed starts to the returning Ryan Rushen and Joe Smith on Saturday and they’ll be expecting to be heavily involved once again on Wednesday evening. As may Joe Butler, who made his return from suspension to deliver another stellar showing at left-back on Saturday, displacing the in-from Ryan Flitton. Sam Wright made his return to the squad after a stop start beginning to the year, while Charlie Ward reported back with no issues following his early removal due to injury against Belper United 10 days ago. Rodrigo Goncalves stepped up his return from injury over the weekend too, returning to the grass with Physio Marc Priestley, with a view to being back involved with the squad soon, though this evenings contest with Newark & Sherwood United may come slightly too early to see the former Stamford AFC man back on the field.

Visitors Newark & Sherwood United meanwhile are enjoying a competitive season to date and are firmly re-establishing themselves as one of Nottinghamshire’s leading non-league clubs after a troubling couple of years. Formerly Newark Flowserve and most recently Newark FC, the club hit dire financial problems as football restarted post-Covid and even found themselves homeless after being evicted from their Lowfield’s home in Newark. A year ground-sharing in the suburbs of Nottingham with Southern League Central side Basford United did little to remedy the difficult situation the club found themselves in, but they did survive their inaugural season in the United Counties League, finishing a place and a point above the relegation places.

A total summer rebrand has seen the club flourish under the Newark & Sherwood United banner and they have put roots back down in the local area too, ground-sharing with Central Midlands League side Collingham FC for 2022/23. They are in the thick of the promotion race too currently sitting 6th, just two places and five points behind the Greens in 4th. Having begun the season under the stewardship of former Lincoln City and Grimsby Town star Nathan Arnold, the Highwaymen are now managed by well-respected senior player Jonathan D’Laryea following the formers departure to take the reigns of Northern Premier League Division One East outfit Cleethorpes Town. D’Laryea has carried on much of the good work that Arnold had begun, with the club reaching a Nottinghamshire Senior Cup final with a recent 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest Academy in front of 1002 spectators at Station Road. A strong FA Vase run saw them reach the 3rd round before running into a rampant Anstey Nomads side, while they were also unlucky to draw Loughborough Students in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round – a 5-1 defeat condemning any chances of a run this season.

They have taken a point off the Scholars in league action though this season and arrive in NG34 on Wednesday evening on the back of a six game unbeaten run in all competitions - including five straight clean-sheets in the run up to this encounter. Their squad is peppered with experience at this level, particularly with former Boston Town man Riley Thompson and goalkeeper Ross Woolley who spent time in the Lincoln City Academy. Luke White and Nyle Blake currently share the lead at the top of the Highwaymen’s scoring charts with 17 strikes each in 33 and 34 appearances respectively, while Kieran Cummings sits just behind them on 15 goals in 34 games.

This will be the 3rd meeting of the two sides already this campaign with the Greens putting in a stunning show to win 4-1 in torrential conditions at Station Road back in August. The Greens had trailed to an early Kian Sketchley goal but turned on the style in the second half following Ryan Rushen’s equaliser right on halftime. Jacob Fenton put the Greens in front just short of the hour before Ryan Rushen’s spectacular effort from the halfway line looped over Woolley to give the Greens a cushion in the 61st minute. The 10-minute blitz was complete three minutes later though when Fenton grabbed a brace of his own to leave most of the 239-strong crowd shellshocked. The Highwaymen did avenge that result a few weeks later though, knocking the Greens out of the FA Vase 4-1 on penalties following a 0-0 stalemate in 90 minutes. The Greens had played much of that contest with 10-men following Charlie Ward’s dismissal and were thankful to Liam Flitton for even getting the contest to penalties when he saved Luke White’s spot-kick with 10 minutes of normal time remaining.

As always we’ll have live match updates on Twitter and once again these are sponsored by the wonderful team at Sleafordian Coaches. We’ll also have Lincolnshire Non-League Radio joining us again on Wednesday evening and we’ll post links to their fantastic commentary in the build up to the game. For those attending entrance to The Longwater Stadium is priced at £6 for adults and £3 for concessions with a military discounted entry available for £5. As always, we’ll have copies of our matchday programme “Green Army” available on the turnstiles, these are priced £1.50 per copy and feature this week an interview with Akeel Francis.

Words: Oliver Atkin