Preview: Melton Town (H)

Long Eaton United welcome unfamiliar foes on Saturday afternoon when Melton Town take the trip down to Grange Park in the United Counties League Premier Division North.

The Blues come into this match off the back of an excellent Emirates FA Cup Preliminary Round win, as they beat step-four side Shepshed Dynamo 4-0 last weekend.

James Gale put Long Eaton ahead early in the first half with a delicate poked finish past the diving Matty White. Then, with 20 minutes remaining in the second half, Alex Marshall scored with a composed half-volley, Micah Jebbison struck from close and forced an own goal from Dan Tuck, before Danny Gordon put the game to bed with a venomous strike into the roof of the net.

Melton head into this game unbeaten in the league, after a 2-1 opening day win over Loughborough Students and more recently a 1-1 draw with Quorn AFC – Zak Munton and Tawanda Mangondoza the goal scorers.

However, that draw with the Fox Hunters took place on Saturday 14th August, so Melton have gone two weeks without a game – due to their early Emirates FA Cup exit as they lost 4-0 to Cleethorpes Town in the Extra Preliminary Round.

Previous Meetings –

Looking back into the history books, Long Eaton United and Melton Town have only ever faced each other twice before and that was back in the 1989/90 season.

Both sides have never met in a cup competition and the only time they have ever shared a division together was the 1989/90 Central Midlands Football League Supreme Division – where the Blues finished fifth and Melton finished fifteenth.

The results of both the home and away matches are lost in the archives, so it is unknown as to how the matches turned out.

However, the two sides did spend the next three seasons competing in the same league, just not in the same division, before Melton Town left the Central Midlands Football League in 1992.

Melton have only just recently re-established themselves as a non-league football club, after having a long break from 1992, up until they joined the United Counties Football League in 2016.

Managers Quotes -

Looking ahead at the match against Melton Town, Ian Deakin said: “I feel like a broken record – but it is the same as I say most weeks, we will go into that game against Melton and try to win.

“We know they are a good side, every team in this league have quality, but we are confident that we will be able to keep up the momentum we have gathered so far.

“The lads worked tirelessly last weekend, and they are on a real crest of a wave at the moment, as they were last season, and they have taken that momentum from a stop/start last season into this one.”

Whilst ensuring that the squad focuses on each specific game, Deakin added: “I think they will only continue to get better with the more games that they play, and the more fitness that comes their way.

“So, it is my job to keep them on the straight and narrow, and make sure they do the right things. I have said to the lads that you have to take each game as it comes, keep ticking them off – do not look too far ahead and do not look past the game in front of you.

“They will go into the match full of confidence and ready to go, and they will have a good week’s training to prepare for that game.”

Team News –

Blues’ captain Mitchell Robinson will serve the second match of his three-match ban against Melton Town, after sitting out his first in the Blues’ 4-0 Emirates FA Cup Preliminary Round win over Shepshed Dynamo last weekend.

Romaine Graham looks set to take the centre-back spot once again, with Marley Fearon waiting for his time to shine as a Blues first-team player.

New signing Ben Hutchinson will also miss out on this fixture, as he picked up a three-match ban playing against Anstey Nomads for Eastwood CFC on Saturday 14th August.

Ticket Information –

£6 Adults
£4 Concessions
U16s FREE with a paying adult

£2 Matchday Programmes

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

Entry can only be purchased at the gate with cash, however, card and cash payments are accepted at the bar and at the kitchen.

Also, you can see the team line-ups outside the hospitality room or on our official Twitter, where there will also be live updates from the match.