A momentum-fuelled Blues welcome Southern Premier League Premier Central side Mickleover FC to Grange Park in the Cawarden Derbyshire Senior Challenge Cup.

The Blues enter the county cup competition in the third round and come into the match off the back of a superbly fought 2-1 victory away to league highflyers Stockton Town.

Luke Cox netted the opener in the early moments of the match, then in quick succession, the Blues extended their lead with a Tom Cursons strike, but Stockton brought the game back to a one-goal deficit with an Adam Nicholson rebound effort on the stroke of half time.

A stern defensive effort from Long Eaton in the second half, as well as a fantastic last-minute penalty save from Sam Wilson, meant the Blues were able to cling on and cause somewhat of an upset.

The Opposition –

Mickleover currently find themselves seventh in the Southern Premier League Premier Central on 31 points, with nine wins, four draws, and seven defeats to their name so far this season.

Sports head into this match off the back of a well-battled 2-2 draw with second-placed Leiston at the Don Amott Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Andrew Dales and Stuart Beavon gave the hosts a two-goal advantage after only three minutes had been played, although a quick response from George Quantrell and a goal mid-way through the first half from Ben Fowkes meant the game ended level.

The latter of the two goal scorers, Beavon, is Mickleover’s current top goal scorer with nine goals thus far this season.

Previous Meetings –

Other than the recent separation in league competition due to Mickleover’s well-established superiority, both teams have in fact met on numerous occasions throughout the clubs’ histories.

The last time both sides met was on Saturday 16th July 2022 during pre-season – both Mickleover and the Blues fielded a mixture of first-team and youth players at the Don Amott Arena.

Long Eaton walked away as 5-2 victors on that day, with a brace coming through Jamie Walker, a well-placed finish from Kameron Campbell, and goals from then-trialists Jack Rogers and Micah Jebbison.

In a competitive environment, Sports and the Blues’ previous meeting was back in 2019 – specifically on November 5th in the Derbyshire Senior Cup, and Long Eaton traveled back home from the Don Amott Arena as 4-2 winners.

Former Blue Niall Towle bagged a hat-trick on that day, with another former Blue David Kolodynski also scoring to send the Blues through to the next round of the county cup.

With the Blues’ recent resurgence and Mickleover’s strong first half of the season, a very entertaining game is to be expected on the stadium pitch at Grange Park.

Managers’ Quotes –

“The beauty of this squad is that I know I can still field a strong one”, Deakin said when asked about squad rotation for the county cup fixture. “There will be players that will play who are in need of some minutes, but that doesn’t weaken us – hopefully, we will have some players coming back from injury too, which is a plus.

“Rod [Orlando-Young] unfortunately got injured last week and he looks like he is going to be out for a while, JT [James Taylor] is also out for a while with an ongoing injury, but hopefully we will have Alex [Marshall] back soon, Tom [Marshall] will be back off his ban and Tyreece [Robinson] is obviously just coming back off an injury as well.

“With the players that are coming back, hopefully, we can give them some minutes in that game if they are fit enough to play – that will be an advantage – but I am still going to field a strong side there is no doubt about it.”

After a two-year absence from the Derbyshire Senior Cup, Deakin reflected on the significance of the competition, he added: “The Derbyshire Senior Cup is an important competition – there are some very good teams in it of whom you may get the chance to play against – so we are very much looking forward to getting going.

“We are under no illusion that we are the underdogs on Tuesday night, with Mickleover competing in a higher league than us – they are a good side, we played them in pre-season and have of course played them on several occasions over the years.

“Mickleover’s ability to move the ball in the way they do makes them a good side, but we are looking forward to it, looking forward to the test – it will enable us to obviously rest some tired legs, but at the same time we want to keep the momentum going and we want to win that game so that we can progress in the cup.”

Match Details -

Long Eaton United vs Mickleover FC
Cawarden Derbyshire FA Senior Challenge Cup
Tuesday 6th December – 7:45 pm Kick-Off

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

Ticket Information (Reduced Price) -

£7 Adults
£5 Concessions
£3 U16s

£2.50 Matchday Programme

The match kicks off at 7:45 pm and we advise all supporters to arrive early to avoid any queues or delays.

Card payments are preferred and accepted at the bar, at the kitchen, and for entry into Grange Park – although, cash payments are still accepted!

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