The Match Background
Wednesday evenings contest will no doubt represent one of the Greens sternest tests of the whole campaign with Sherwood having made an electric start to their campaign – backing up their pre-season billing as one of the title favourites in the Premier Division North. Both sides emerged victorious from tight FA Vase 1st Qualifying Round ties over the weekend with the Wood seeing off Melton Town by the odd goal in five on Friday night, while the Greens were made to sweat by lowly United Counties League Division One side Rainworth Miners Welfare on Saturday afternoon. Both sides will have aligning ambitions this term and with the Greens already showing their mettle against Loughborough Students just over a fortnight ago, and the Wood confidently outperforming step four opponents in the FA Cup last weekend – Wednesday’s encounter is set to be a real humdinger in Nottinghamshire. It may look a daunting task on the face of it but title favourites are just that – favourites, not shoe-ins and let’s not forget that Sherwood began last season as one of the outright favourites and finished two places and 14 points behind the Greens in 7th last term. Now’s the time to shine.

Last Time Out
The Greens will need to make notable improvements to their performance levels if they are to leave Debdale Park with any spoils on Wednesday evening and can count themselves very fortunate to remain in this seasons FA Vase after being taken all the way to penalties by lowly Rainworth Miners Welfare on Saturday afternoon. The Wrens more than belied their league position to very nearly leave the Greens red-faced at the Longwater Stadium taking an early 2nd minute lead when a fine ball forward from Callum Brooks set Tom Bedford free to coolly slot past the onrushing Liam Flitton to put the step six side ahead. The Greens found their way level 10 minutes later when Joe Braithwaite was on hand power home Tristan Drummond’s pinpoint corner with his head, before the game was turned fully on its head when persistent work from Shaun Harrad saw him cross for Ryan Lennon to tap home at close range. Rather than kick-on, the Greens found themselves going in at the break level when Tom Bedford was the beneficiary again of a fine ball forward from Tom Berry and he composed himself well to fire the leveller past Flitton. The Greens were slightly improved during the second period and looked to have done enough when Tom Ward headed beyond Joe Vaughan from another Drummond cross after 73 minutes. There was to be a slap round the face though in the 96th minute when Tommy Marshall delivered a fine cross into a good area and was rewarded when Callum Brooks tapped home another leveller from close range to force the tie into penalties. Despite Liam Flitton’s miss from the spot, he redeemed himself immediately by saving well from the following spot-kick before Tommy Marshall was the unfortunate soul to drag wide and send the Greens through to a 2nd Qualifying Round tie with Ollerton Town on September 23rd.

Team News
Player/Manager Tom Ward will check on the fitness of midfielder Lewis Daff who was replaced early on in the second half on Saturday afternoon with a hamstring problem – adding to existing issues with his pivot as Charlie Ward is set to sit out the final match of his three-game ban for a red card picked up against Shepshed Dynamo in the FA Cup. There is good news in that holding midfield role though with the return of Dominic Kew after he was absent over the weekend – he could be the beneficiary of this situation and may be front and centre of Ward’s plans at Debdale Park on Wednesday evening. Elsewhere Issa Gaye remains unavailable while both Jacob Fenton and Ryan Rushen will be expected to make returns to the starting XI after taking places on the bench over the weekend against Rainworth.

The Opposition
Wednesday evenings contest is likely to bring about a tough evening for the Greens with opponents Sherwood Colliery in fine early season form. They remain unbeaten in the league with a perfect four wins from four games and also made progress in the FA Vase and the FA Cup – a run which has already seen them dispatch of last seasons United Counties League Division One Champions Aylestone Park and step four outfit Grantham Town to secure themselves a 1st Qualifying Round tie with Worcester City at the weekend. They’ll hope to enter that cup contest by remaining the only side with a 100% record in the Premier Division North, but will face a stern test from a Greens side eager to brush off two consecutive lacklustre performances against Belper United and Rainworth Miners Welfare. Victory on Wednesday evening could see the Wood return to the summit of the Premier Division North table and they’ll be desperate to keep living up to their tag as title favourites this season. The aims this campaign are crystal clear, but it wouldn’t be uncharacteristic of the Greens to throw a spanner in the works either…

Ones to Watch
As with any successful side the Wood can turn their ambitions to a plethora of high quality players and their squad depth this season lends itself to the form they are showing in all competitions. The Greens will be wary of the lively Ethan Wiesztort who delivered two impressive displays against the Greens last term – he’s already registered seven goals this term in seven games while his striking partner – the experienced Craig Westcarr – has seven of his own in nine games. Elsewhere centre-back Jake Wright was sitting on the bench for Premier League Sheffield United only three years ago and was a large presence in their Championship promotion winning campaign of 2018/19. He was most recently of Grantham Town after spending a year at National League North level with Boston United – playing a part in the side that reached the play-off final in 2021/22. Elsewhere Jobe Shaw was a goal scorer for the Wood last season against the Greens, while experienced striker Bradley Wells – with four goals this campaign already – boasts National League North experience with Gainsborough Trinity alongside a plethora of Northern Premier League experience for a host of clubs at steps three and four.

Previous Meetings
Two meetings last season did not prove particularly profitable for the Greens as they fell to a pair of 2-0 defeats at the hands of the Wood. An early August meeting at the Longwater Stadium saw goals from Luis Rose and Kieren Watson condemn the Greens to a first league defeat of the campaign in front of 138 spectators. The trick was repeated in January as the Greens contested their first action of the new year – this time it was Gareth Curtis and Jobe Shaw goals that accounted for the Greens at a muddy Debdale Park in front of 96 spectators.

The Match Details
Admission to Debdale Park is priced at £6.00 for adults and £4.00 for concessions while children are charged at £1.00. Copies of Sherwood’s matchday programme will be available on the turnstile for £2.00 per copy while food and drink will be available from the clubhouse a few meters away from the turnstiles. Kick-off at Debdale Park is set for 7.45PM and for those travelling, the all important postcode is NG19 7NS.

Words; Oliver Atkin