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Needham Market ended a run of five straight defeats last night with a 2-0 home victory against bottom the league Rushden & Diamonds. Luke Ingram scored both of their goals in front of 181 spectators.
The win takes them two points above the drop zone.
Despite their lowly position their home record now includes 8 wins from 13 matches 


 

I domt think football web pages likes us

If we still want to make the playoffs. We can't lose another match this season

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The Supporters Bus bus to Needham Market is fully booked. To have a full bus at £25 per person is truly amazing support.

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DATE: FRI 17 FEB 2023    BY STEVE WHITNEY
Weekend Match Preview
The Pitching In Southern Football League enters its final quarter of the 2022/23 season with a full fixture list this weekend.
There’s one game that leaps off the page in Saturday’s Premier Division Central fixtures. And that’s at Hayden Road where bottom-markers AFC Rushden & Diamonds welcome second-from-bottom Hednesford Town. Both teams have been cast adrift and need wins now if they are not to be very early relegation confirmations. Diamonds and the Pitmen have both changed managers in an attempt to shift momentum, but Chris Nunn and Danny Glover have not been able to change their respective teams` fortunes. The hosts go into the game having lost their last five games, whilst the visitors have also lost five in the spin and shared a 2-2 draw with St Ives Town on January 14th. Hednesford supporters will be extremely happy with any sort of win but would love to emulate the scoreline from the reverse fixture on October 1st when the Pitmen inflicted a 5-0 hammering on a then-Andy Burgess` Diamonds side at the Race Stadium. However, of the scorer of the five goals that day, only Ryan Nesbitt, who made it 2-0 shortly after half-time, is still a Pitman.

The club immediately above the bottom two, Stratford Town, have an eight-point cushion on Hednesford and four games in hand on them and two on Diamonds, so the situation is really critical for the bottom two.Saturday sees the Bards have a tough task in visiting Liam McDonald’s Rushall Olympic, who are currently holding the final play-off spot. But the Pics will be looking to get back to winning ways, having lost 2-1 at the Trico Stadium to seventh-placed Royston Town last weekend, having thrashed ninth-placed Redditch United 7-2 the week before! Stratford were involved in a 3-3 midweek thriller at the Arden Garages Stadium against mid-table St Ives Town.

Fourth-from-bottom Bedford Town should be relatively secure already on 30 points, but will be keen to finish off the season in decent form. The Eagles, who journey to the War Memorial Athletic Ground tomorrow to play 12th-place Stourbridge, are another team to have had a change of management – twice – this season following the departure of promotion-winning Gary Setchell, then Paul Smith after a very short spell and now Graeme Tomlinson.

Ian Long’s Alvechurch have hit a decent spell of form, having lost just one of their last five matches – a run which has lifted the Lye Meadow outfit up to 17th in the table and, along with Bedford and Kings Langley, fairly secure on 30 points. Alvechurch have St Ives visiting tomorrow, whilst Kings Langley, who managed to hold leaders Tamworth to a 1-1 draw last weekend, are not far away at the Victoria Ground to take on 15th-placed Bromsgrove Sporting.

At the other end of the table, Tamworth’s lead at the top of the table was reduced to three points as a consequence of their draw at the Orbital Fasteners Stadium and a 3-0 defeat to Stourbridge the previous midweek. The Lambs make the short journey down the A1 to Barwell, who beat Diamonds last weekend and are now 14th.

Second-placed Leiston could have reduced the gap to just a single point had they managed to beat Alvechurch last Saturday instead of being held to a 1-1 draw. However, Darren Eadie and Chris Wigger’s side are unbeaten in eight league games as they play not far away from Barwell in a big game against fourth-placed Coalville Town at the Mander Cruickshank Solicitors Stadium. Adam Stevens` Ravens have won their previous seven league games, including a 5-1 hammering of Hitchin Town in midweek.

Jimmy Ginnelly’s Nuneaton Borough sandwich Leiston and Coalville in third and they made it back-to-back wins last Saturday when triumphing 1-0 at Stratford.They travel to Top Field to play a Hitchin side who have picked up only two points from their last four games which has dropped them down to tenth in the table, 12 points adrift of the play-off places.

The top five possess an eight-point lead over the chasing pack which is currently led by Mickleover, who face the team who were switched from the Northern Premier League with them last summer, Basford United, at Greenwich Avenue. Royston Town, Ilkeston Town and Redditch United are seventh, eighth and ninth respectively, with the Crows taking on Matt Clarke’s Reds at Garden Walk tomorrow and Ilkeston travelling to Suffolk to play a Needham Market side who won the `six-pointer` at Diamonds in midweek. 

 

Had a chat with Leiston official at Cambridge Services. They’re on their way to Coalville

25 minutes to kickoff and It's very dull here at Needham Market.

Come on ilson

Come on ilson

Delap gets an early booking for an over enthusiastic challenge.  Needham have settled after a shaky start.       0-0       14 mins

Goal for Needham  Luke Brown fires past Hiddleston   0-1       20 mins

Last edited by Matchman (18/2/2023 9:46 PM)

Wilson cross diverted for a corner on the right. The corner is headed clear.  Great run and cross by Wilder but it's defended.     1-1    30mins

Garnham saves again from Hallam.  It's still quite scrappy .      1-1       40 mins

Ilkeston bench being spoken to by the ref.  Someone has received a card.  We're off again.  Both sides playing too many long balls. Corner to Needham. Nothing comes from it.

Half time   Needham 1  Ilkeston 1

Last edited by Matchman (18/2/2023 9:48 PM)

One for the scrap book bet its jw