Lincoln City are the hosts for the highly anticipated local derby against Lincoln United tonight.
The two sides, who have met over recent years in the Lincolnshire FA County Cup will now meet in the FA Women’s National League Division One Midlands for the first time.
Lincoln United:
The major news heading into the game is the exit of Lincoln United manager Ricky Pledger. The club said they were “extremely reluctant” to make this change.
Adding in a club statement: “Ricky has been dedicated and tireless, guiding the team through an exciting yet challenging period in its’ history. His hard work and commitment have not gone unnoticed and he has played an important role in our journey.”
It came after a 4-0 defeat last weekend, were the away side against an in-form Leafield Athletic. Their hosts had lost just one of their opening five league matches.
The game was tight at the half-way mark, with the score at 1-0. However, three goals in the space of 27 minutes from Tiara Jade, Megan Jenkins and Hannah Fishwick sealed the victory for Leafield.
The loss of Pledger in the following days leaves The Whites without a manager at time of writing, with two games coming in the next four days.
Lincoln City:
Like United, the Imps also fell to a 4-0 defeat at the weekend, losing to Boldmere St. Michaels. Charlotte Dinsdale’s young side were competitive throughout a game that looked seemingly closer than the four-goal deficit implies.
Ultimately it was Boldmere’s Janelle Straker who led her side to victory, picking up a brace along with goals from Lataya Bojang and Jade Formaston.
City had their fair share of chances, in fact the Imps came close to making it 3-1 in the second-half, however the Boldmere ‘keeper came rushing out of goal, wiping out Lexi Butterworth in the process and receiving a red card.
After the game, head coach Charlotte Dinsdale said: “It was really good to get a positive reaction from the girls, we’ve had a very good week of training and have tried new things.
“If we can cut out some of the errors, the little mistakes we’ve got we could have been in closer contention in the score line today.”
The Imps sit just four points behind Lincoln United, who are one spot above the relegation zone. A win would be a huge confidence boost for Dinsdale’s side, as they currently sit rock bottom of the table without a point to their name.
Kick off is at 19:45 on September 26th and will be played at Gainsborough Trinity’s KAL Group Stadium.
Feature Image Credit: Ed Mayes Photography