The Match Background
United Counties League Premier Division North action makes a welcome return to the Longwater Stadium this evening as the Greens look to build upon their promising opening day victory on the road at AFC Mansfield. They face an extremely tough assignment though in the form of Lincolnshire rivals Skegness Town – a team that got the better of the Greens at the Longwater Stadium last season. The visitors will also be reeling after falling to defeat in their opening contest of the campaign at home to Sherwood Colliery and will be looking to notch up their first three points of the season at the hands of one of the Premier Division North promotion hopefuls. With both sides significantly strengthened from last seasons pair of early-season meetings – it promises to be a real battle under the Longwater lights.

Last Time Out
The Greens got their campaign off to the best possible start on Saturday afternoon, registering a 2-0 victory on the road at AFC Mansfield. The Greens were certainly not at their fluid best at the Forest Town Arena, but found enough moments of quality to get the job done on a ground in which they notably became unstuck last season. The Greens could scarcely have got off to better start when Charlie Ward nodded Jacob Fenton’s long throw into the far corner inside the first minute of the contest to put the Greens ahead. The visitors huffed and puffed but created little in the way of meaningful opportunities but did double their advantage just short of the half hour mark when brilliant work from Ryan Rushen saw him expertly cross for Finlay Armond to head home the Greens clincher. It could have got better for the Greens before the break but Shaun Harrad saw his neat effort denied by the base of the post. The second half passed without little incident from either side – the only real effort of note coming from Greens substitute Marcus Pancho who’s speculative freekick was well saved by Adam Revuelta in the Bulls goal.

Team News
Player/Manager Tom Ward will expect to have a pretty full squad to choose from once again on Wednesday evening – minus the known absences of both Marcus Pancho and Max Ward. There will be tough decisions for Ward to make though, particularly across the forward line where lively cameos from Ryan Lennon and Tom Siddons on Saturday afternoon will see them pushing for starting berths on Wednesday evening. Dominic Kew will hope to keep his holding role alongside Charlie Ward too after an impressive performance at the Forest Town Arena but will face stiff opposition from Lewis Daff for that place in the heart of midfield.

The Opposition
Opponents Skegness Town meanwhile began their own campaign in disappointing fashion on Saturday afternoon as they were beaten 3-1 by one of the title favourites, Sherwood Colliery. The Lilywhites had actually gone in at the break level at 1-1 after Ben Davison had levelled Ewan Robson’s 9th minute opener for the Nottinghamshire side, but came unstuck during the second half as the visitors took the game away from their hosts with goals from Marley Grant and the well-travelled Craig Westcarr. Despite an opening day defeat though Skegness will still harbour their own hopes of a successful campaign to come after a strong finish to last campaign saw them finally recover a bottom half position to finish 9th in Premier Division North. They are expected to compete well and will take heart from the introduction of promotion play-offs at step five from this campaign onwards – they’ll certainly expect to challenge those positions. Pre-season suggests there may be work to do at the Vertigo Stadium though particularly after back-to-back defeats to Grimsby Borough (4-2) and Cleethorpes Town (4-1) but, in fairness, Wednesday evenings visitors did endure a tough pre-season, headlined by the visit of Northern Premier League Premier Division play-off semi-finalists Matlock Town to the Vertigo Stadium.

Ones to Watch
The Lilywhites summer business was headlined by the arrivals of Scott Floyd from Pinchbeck United and James Hugo, who has experience at Northern Premier League outfit Spalding United. The pairing add real quality to a competitive squad with vast experience at United Counties League level and beyond. Goalkeeper Jake Lovelace will be hoping to put another strong season behind him after making his Boston United debut in National League North at the end of last campaign. He’s been involved regularly throughout pre-season for the Pilgrims and recently signed for their new U23’s team ahead of the new campaign as he continues to add to his exciting potential. Elsewhere, seasoned campaigners Jonny Lockie and Gary King will need no introduction to those versed on the United Counties League – Gary King in particular will cause nightmares for the Greens following his late winner at the Longwater Stadium last season. Ben Davison has become a Skegness Town legend over recent seasons and opened his account for the season with the Lilywhites only goal on Saturday afternoon while players such as Connor Marshall and Stacey Cartwright are well known for their spells at Boston United and Boston Town respectively.

Previous Meetings
The two sides met this time last season during the first midweek of the Premier Division North campaign with the Greens edging out the Lilywhites, 3-2, in a thriller at the Vertigo Stadium. Connor Marshall had thumped the hosts in front early on in the first half before goals from Ryan Rushen and Joe Smith flipped the game on its head before the hour. It looked as though Jamie Potts had secured the Lilywhites a point before Mitch Griffiths stole the show with a thunderbolt in the 90th minute to secure the visitors all three points. Skegness Town got their revenge just a few weeks later though when they inflicted their own late heartbreak on the Greens at the Longwater Stadium. The hosts had been purring in an impressive first half display but only had Rodrigo Goncalves 17th minute opener to show for their dominance. The Greens were made to pay for that lack of a cutting edge in the second half when first Ben Davison equalised in the 50th minute before Gary King secured all three points for the visitors with an piledriver of an effort in the 88th minute.

The Match Details
Admission to the Longwater Stadium on Wednesday evening is priced at £7 for adults, £5 for military concessions and £4 for other concessions, with under-16’s free. We can accept both cash and card at the turnstiles and at the bar and snack bar which will be open throughout the game. Copies of our new-look matchday programme the ‘Green Army’ will be available in print once again this campaign with copies priced at £1.50 each on the turnstiles. Wednesday evenings match referee is Kieron Salmons with his assistants on the evening Craig Gorman and Ryan Pick. Kick-off at the Longwater Stadium is scheduled for 7.45PM.

Words; Oliver Atkin