The Greens have been a fortnight without a fixture after freezing temperatures saw last weekends Lincolnshire derby with Boston Town postponed due to a frozen pitch at The Longwater Stadium. It means the last time the Greens were active in the league was in a narrow 3-2 defeat at unbeaten table-toppers Loughborough Students back on the opening weekend of December. The Greens gave an excellent account of themselves at the Loughborough University Stadium, twice hauling themselves level to go in at the break at 2-2. The Scholars had taken an early lead when Josh Wicks’ cross was diverted into his own net by Tom Ward, before he was involved at the right end when his effort was parried into the feet of Joe Smith who lashed home the first equaliser. Wicks then turned goal-scorer not long afterwards - placing a fine effort into the bottom right beyond the outstretched reach of Liam Flitton. It was brother Ryan though who had the Greens level again before the interval when he found the top left hand corner with a wonderfully struck freekick, but despite plenty of second half pressure the Greens were undone early on when Matthew Bowman’s cross was neatly headed home by Wicks.

Player/Manager Tom Ward will be hoping to welcome back a host of players ahead of Saturday’s fixture with the Poachers, chief of which will be the welcome returns of suspended trio Joe Braithwaite, Akeel Francis and Joe Butler who all missed the defeat at Loughborough and in Francis’ case, missing since his red card at AFC Mansfield back in November. Joe Smith and Rodrigo Goncalves stepped up their return from long-term injury issues with starts a fortnight ago in Leicestershire and Ward will be hoping to get more minutes in their legs as they continue to rebuild full fitness. Ryan Flitton has created a selection headache with a fine performance at the Scholars, his showing topped off by a wonderfully taken freekick that bought the Greens level for a second time. He’ll be vying for a spot in the starting line-up with the returning Sam Wright who, after scoring at hat-trick the previous week against Heanor Town, missed the reversal at Loughborough. The Greens will also be hoping Max Ward has recovered from a sudden bout of illness that saw him sit out the Scholars contest as an unused substitute.

Opponents Eastwood Community meanwhile are struggling at the wrong end of the Premier Division North this term after a difficult start to a campaign that has seen them register just four victories in 20 league encounters. Born from the ashes of the defunct Eastwood Town in 2014, Community have enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent seasons after beginning their existence in the Central Midlands League. They were promoted to this level at the beginning of last season after accumulating enough points over the two Covid-19 affected campaigns to seal promotion to step five on a points-per-game basis. After finishing last season in 14th place with 33 points the Nottinghamshire outfit had hoped to push on this season but have found the going tough. They opened their campaign with a narrow 1-0 defeat at The Longwater Stadium that saw Joe Butler’s 50th minute strike earn the Greens an opening day victory, after Community had seen Jacob Sturgess sent off just before the break. They registered a notable first success of the campaign in mid-August with a well-earned 1-0 victory over Heanor Town, before following that up with a 3-1 triumph over Heather St. Johns the following weekend. Their only other two victories this campaign arrived fairly recently with Leicester Nirvana defeated 1-0 on the 5th November and then an entertaining 5-2 success over Wisbech Town a fortnight ago. They were also one of a handful of games left on across the country at the weekend as the cold snap tightened its grip, but they were soundly beaten 4-0 by Skegness Town. Community entered neither the FA Cup or FA Vase this campaign. Their other two cup campaigns, in the Nottinghamshire Senior Cup and the United Counties League Knockout Cup both came to an end at the first hurdle at the hands of Hucknall Town and Newport Pagnell Town respectively. Community have been somewhat goal-shy this campaign scoring just 22 goals so far this season with a massive 13 of those coming from the boot of Jack Thatcher, his closest rival for the clubs golden boot is Isaac Morledge who has someway to go to match his teammate with three goals to his name so far this campaign.

Last season’s two contests were the first meetings of the two sides since the hosts reformation in 2014, with both sides trading heavy away victories. Community were 4-0 victors over the Greens at Eslaforde Park on the 4th September last year as goals from Finnlay Hunter, McKenna Parton and a brace from Liam Hearn saw off a struggling Greens side that features just the injured pairing of Danny Horton and Garry Doran from the current squad. A much changed Greens side dished out their revenge on the 4th December with a comfortable 5-1 win at Halbrooke with goals from Ryan Rushen, George Asplin, Jacob Fenton and a Joe Smith brace securing all three points as the Greens continued to climb the table under the new stewardship of Tom Ward.

As always we’ll have live match updates on Twitter and once again these are sponsored by the wonderful team at Sleafordian Coaches. Entrance to the Halbrooke Stadium (NG16 3HB) is priced at £6 for adults and £4 for concessions. There are expected to be NO issues with the pitch ahead of Saturday’s contest with the hosts playing on a 3G surface, though should that change we’ll endeavour to notify you as soon as possible!

Words: Oliver Atkin