Match Preview

Match Preview – St Ives Town (H)

The Blues aim to go five league games unbeaten when they welcome St Ives Town to Grange Park on Saturday afternoon.

In United’s previous fixture, they managed to hold league leaders Needham Market to a 0-0 draw at the home of the Blues.

Daniel Morphew had a big opportunity for the visitor's mid-way through the second half, just before Cieron Keane came inches away with a shot of his own, but neither could hit the back of the net.

After 90 minutes of football came to an end, the Blues had secured their fourth successive draw this season, whilst denying the Marketmen an opportunity of going seven points clear at the top of the table.

The Opposition –

St Ives Town currently sit in 12th place after 32 games played in the Southern Football League Premier Central this season – with 13 victories, three draws and 16 defeats to their name.

The Saints’ Jonathan Edwards tops the Southern Football League Premier Central goal scoring charts with 16 goals so far this season, then in sixth place sits the Saints’ Brandon Njoku with 12 goals during 2023/24.

In their last outing, St Ives overcame Alvechurch away from home by an impressive four-goals-to-one.

Nicholas Clayton-Phillips gave Alvechurch an early lead, however goals from Jonathan Edwards and Jordan Williams, as well as a brace from Michael Richens, meant the visitors walked away from Lye Meadow with all three points.

St Ives Town will of course be looking to make it another win on the road when they visit Grange Park this weekend.

Previous Meeting’s –

The first time that the Blues and the Saints met was during the 2011/12 season, when they faced off in the second round of the FA Vase at Grange Park on Saturday 19th November 2011.

Long Eaton fell to a 3-0 defeat on that day, after Connor Washington secured a hat-trick to secure St Ives’ spot in the third round of the competition.

That was the first and only time both sides had met prior to this season, but of course during 2023/24 there has already been a fixture between the two sides played at the Quattro-Tech Westwood Road.

St Ives Town were victorious on that day also, as they slumped the Blues by five-goals-to-nil on a Saturday afternoon to forget in early December.

Jonathan Edwards bagged a brace, whilst goals from Brandon Njoku, Jordan Williams and Khris Oti rubbed salt in the wounds of the United players on that day.

Manager’s Quotes –

Coming off the back of four consecutive draws, and heading into a tough match this weekend, Blues’ boss Brad Munn said: “I expect us to go into every game with no fear now, because at the end of the day, teams do come here [to Grange Park] and respect us.

“We should realistically go out into every game now and try and get on the front foot, and put our qualities onto other teams, which we have been doing – we have to make ourselves hard to beat, especially at home.

“We have taken more points away from home this year than we have at home, so of course we want to pick up a few more points, as the fans are slowly getting louder, slowly coming back and that’s all we want, a feel good around the place.

“The club is fantastic, it’s ran impeccably, and as far as we are concerned, we just want to put a smile on people's faces, whether that’s on a Saturday or a Tuesday.

“Either way, we are looking forward to the game this weekend, the togetherness in the dressing room is better than ever, hopefully for the long run, so we will go out on Saturday eager to pick up a result.”

Match Details –

Long Eaton United vs St Ives Town
Pitching In Southern Football League Premier Central
Saturday 16th March 2024 – Kick-off 3:00pm

Grange Park (Long Eaton United)
Station Road
Long Eaton
Derbyshire
NG10 2EF

Ticket Information –

£11 Adults
£9 Concessions
£4 U16s
U16 members go FREE with membership card (limited to one member per paying adult)

£2.50 Matchday Programme

The match kicks off at 3:00pm and we advise all supporters to arrive early to avoid any queues of delays.

Card payments are preferred and accepted at Grange Park, although cash payments are still accepted.

Car Parking is available at the ground and is free, although it is subject to availability – ample parking is available in the surrounding area.

Finally, the team lineups will be announced via the tannoy prior to kick-off, and you can also find them on our official Twitter/X page, where there will also be live updates from the match.