Match preview: 4 home game series starts with Marine

We host Marine this Saturday as we look to make it four league wins on the bounce. 

The clash against The Mariners opens a certified footballing bonanza at Broadhurst Park, as the Red Army tackle four home fixtures in 11 days. 
Marine breathe the rarefied air of seventh-tier football once again after three years in the division below. The Merseyside outfit have acclimatised steadily to this level with three wins, four draws, and three losses placing them 14th in the table.

Significantly, Kevin Lynch’s side completed a 4-0 rout of Atherton Collieries in their last game, with former FC United loanee Hayden Campbell claiming a hat-trick from inside the box.Each of the youngster’s goals sprouted from clever movement, with Campbell proving adept at losing his marker and reacting expertly to crosses. The midfielder is one to watch with five goals this season, while forwards Kielen Adams, Jack Dunn, and Jake Burton have contributed two goals each. 

Dunn formerly donned the red of Liverpool FC and even scored for the first team one pre-season, though he couldn’t break into Brendan Rodgers’ plans and has since featured for various Football League and non-league sides. He signed for his new employers over the summer. 

Marine also have the third-best defensive record in the league this year, having conceded eight goals and kept four clean sheets in 10 games. At the other end of the pitch, former Jersey Bulls striker Sol Solomon is set to make his debut after his transfer this week, Liverpool fan Sol was a frequent name on the score sheet for the Bulls and his signature is a sign of intent from the Mariners.

Goalkeeper Bayleigh Passant might be a familiar name for any football fanatics who tuned in to Marine’s FA Cup run of 2020/21, when The Mariners reached the Third Round but met a red-hot Tottenham Hotspur, who cut the fairy tale short on live television with a 5-0 win despite Marine’s courageous efforts.   

Speaking of big wins, if you didn’t know by now, we claimed one of our own on Tuesday night: a resounding 4-0 victory over Liversedge. 

All of our goals stemmed from blistering counter-attacks and proved our attacking potency. 
Callum Gribbin opened the scoring in the first half. Regan Linney sliced open the back line with a sumptuous through-ball and Gribbin kept his cool to dribble past two defenders and score. 

Loanee goalkeeper Wyll Stanway, who was Man of the Match against Warrington Town last Saturday, affirmed his quality again with a penalty save.
And then the stands were left mesmerised by Linney, who scored an eight-minute hat-trick at the business end of the game to seal the victory with a flourish. 

Our striker has been in scintillating form this campaign, with eight goals catapulting him to joint-top of the league’s goalscoring charts.
He currently shares the perch with Warrington Rylands’ Kane Drummond, but you wouldn’t put it past Linney to improve his tally this weekend and seize the top spot all for himself.

Sixteen points in 10 games represents our best start to a season since 2013, and ahead of the Marine game, manager Neil Reynolds expressed plenty of optimism as the injury list clears. 
“What has been really pleasing is seeing Vincent, Donohue, and Ennis return, Linney back on the score sheet, and everyone playing their part.
“Barring Andy Halls, who has got a fitness test, everyone is fit and ready to go, so I’ve got a massive selection headache, but then again I’ve got four games in two weeks and we’ve seen how quickly football can change.”
Reno urged fans to get down to Broadhurst Park and fuel the atmosphere. 
“I’d encourage everyone to come down. We are playing a good brand of football at the minute, but we do want to develop and maintain consistency at home. There’s nothing better than getting the fans behind you.
“Anybody can beat anybody and we’ve just got to make sure that we’re on the front foot and ready to take our game plan to Marine.”

By Luke Power