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The Greens were due to be in midweek action at Deeping Rangers on Tuesday evening, but a prolonged spell of heavy rain saw the fixture fall foul of an afternoon pitch inspection at the Haydon Whitham Stadium. That postponement allows the Greens to push head first into what will be a first home league fixture since Sam Wright’s hat-trick secured the Greens a vital 3-2 victory over Heanor Town on November 26th last year. Since then, the Greens have spent a weather disrupted December on the road at Loughborough Students, Eastwood Community and latterly Pinchbeck United before beginning the New Year with a disappointing 2-0 defeat at the hands of an improving Sherwood Colliery last Saturday afternoon. The Greens generated some good opportunities of their own, most notably when Jacob Fenton stung the palms of Warren Squires after 11 minutes and then when Ryan Rushen headed over from close range following good work from the aforementioned Fenton. Despite this though the Greens were made to pay for sloppy moments at the other end as a clinical Sherwood side made the most of their clear cut chances. Liam Flitton had already been called into action to claw a header heroically off the line before the hosts hit the front in the 24th minute when Ethan Weisztort threaded Gareth Curtis though, and he slotted home past the onrushing Flitton despite more than a hint of offside. Sherwood doubled their advantage just after the hour mark when Jobe Shaw was allowed a free run on goal from a corner and crashed a header in off the underside of the crossbar. It could have been worse for the Greens were it not for another stellar intervention from Flitton at the other end, first beating away a powerful effort from Will Norcross before once again unbelievably denying Weisztort from close range after he had been set up by Brad Lathall.

The Greens went unchanged on Saturday from the earlier 4-1 victory at Pinchbeck United before the Christmas break, but after a poor first half showing in particular, it is expected that Player/Manager Tom Ward will consider changes ahead of the clash with Leicester Nirvana. One man pushing for inclusion from the start will be Lewis Daff following a brace of substitute appearances, while Grantham Town loanee’s Harry Johnson and Matt McBride also find themselves in similar positions having lost their starting places over the last couple of games. Ryan Flitton was substituted at half-time at Sherwood and he’ll be hoping for an opportunity on home soil, as will Sam Wright, who since scoring that hat-trick on November 26th against Heanor Town has found his game time limited. The contest with Nirvana may see the return of Rodrigo Goncalves who is continuing his rehabilitation following a set-back in his recovery from long-term injury. His return to first team training is impending but it remains to be seen if this weekends contest will arrive too early for his reintroduction to action.

Opponents Leicester Nirvana meanwhile are struggling after a promising start to the campaign. They were four unbeaten in league action by the time they played the Greens on August Bank Holiday weekend but since then have struggled to impose themselves on the higher fringes of the table, currently sitting 15th with five wins and 18 points to their name so far this season. Their undoubted highlight arrived in United Counties League Knockout Cup action when they defeated Premier Division South title challengers Rugby Town 3-1. There was notable victories over Pinchbeck United (2-0) and Wisbech Town (3-5) in league action earlier in the campaign, but they arrive in Lincolnshire on the back of a six game winless streak that stretches back to October 29th and a 3-1 victory over Selston FC. They were beaten at AFC Mansfield (3-1) and Eastwood Community (1-0) in that time as well as seeing their most profitable cup run of the season come to an end at March Town United in the League Cup. An FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round victory over Selston FC gave way to a 2-0 defeat at Kimberley Miners Welfare in the Preliminary Round, while a 3-0 defeat put an end to any FA Vase hopes at Shirebrook Town.

Three clean sheets in all competitions this season goes someway to showing where Nirvana’s problems lie and they haven’t been shy in front of goal in places with a 4-4 draw at Quorn FC, a 4-2 defeat at Deeping Rangers and a 5-3 victory over Wisbech Town amongst their results this campaign. Tamar Clayton-Naute was the star man when Nirvana met the Greens earlier in the season and he’s continued to be a vital cog in the Nirvana side with his pace and trickery leading him onto six goals for the campaign, level in the charts with Daniel Odunaiya. They are led by the impressive Kyle Tott whose 10 strikes this campaign leave him comfortably top of the clubs scoring charts.

Nirvana have been regular opponents of the Greens over the last few seasons with the two sides having met a total of 17 times to date. The Leicestershire outfit hold the upper hand in the head to head records with ten wins to Sleaford’s 7 and remarkably there has never been a draw between the two sides either. The two contests last season ended in a pair of home victories with Nirvana emerging victorious, 2-0 at Hamilton Park, before the Greens returned the favour, winning 1-0 at Eslaforde Park courtesy of a Jacob Fenton’s penalty in front of 140 spectators. This seasons’ corresponding fixture also ended in the Greens favour as an own goal, a strike from Rodrigo Goncalves and a Kyle Watkins header saw the Greens through to a comfortable 3-1 victory in Leicestershire.

As always we’ll have live match updates throughout the contest on Twitter and these are, once again, sponsored by our close friends and supporters at Sleafordian Coaches. Admission to The Longwater Stadium is priced at £6 for adults and £3 for concessions with our matchday programme ‘The Green Army’ available on the turnstile for £1.50 per copy.

Words: Oliver Atkin