Rainworth MW aiming for first double of the NPL season

The Wrens came away from Ashby Avenue on 24th September with a 2-1 victory, which was a rare Tuesday success for the Kirklington Road club.

Manager Scott Rickards acknowledged after the latest midweek loss, Tuesday’s 4-1 defeat at Coalville Town, that the club seems to have a problem with such matches, but pulled no punches in saying that this defeat was to a large extent self-inflicted.

Three of Coalville’s goals came in five costly minutes straddling half-time, and although Rainworth dominated the rest of the second half, Rickards insisted that 4-1 was a fair scoreline.

He said: “We were not at the races in the first half, and we were effectively still in the dressing room when Coalville scored twice in the first two minutes of the second half.

“That, we know, is not good enough. Fair enough, we showed how we can play after that, but we had made it too hard for ourselves. We know how Coalville play, they get the ball quickly from back to front, and they are clinical, which they were in taking three of the four goals that we gifted them.

“We showed our character and spirit in the second half, and if we had shown that all through the match then maybe the result would have been different and we would have got something from it.

“As a team we have to strengthen our belief in what we are about, and inject a bit of confidence.

“We have showed it in stages of games, as we did in both last Saturday’s win over Bedworth and Tuesday’s defeat, and we have to understand that the best way to win matches is to do it full-time rather than part-time.”

Looking forward to the coming weekend, Rickards added: “Saturday’s Lincoln game is a massive one for us because we need to respond to Tuesday’s result positively. We know what they are about, and what they bring to the table, and if we start as we finished the game at Coalville I believe we will get the result we need.”

Rainworth included new boy 18-year-old Gregory Simmons at Coalville, and he marked his debut with the Wrens’ goal very quickly after their disastrous start to the second half.

Saturday’s home game with Lincoln United is one of those rare occasions this season when a Wrens home match does not clash with a Mansfield Town home fixture.

This means that the Rainworth half price offer to Mansfield Town fans will come into play, and any Stags fan who produces either a Mansfield Town season ticket or other evidence that they are Stags regulars at the turnstile will be admitted for half price.

With only days to go before Sunday’s open day for their proposed new Scholarship scheme, manager Rickards has revealed that there has been a healthy level of interest from prospective students.

Rickards enthused: “I’m looking forward very much to the open day for our new Scholarship Scheme tomorrow. We’ve been pushing it hard during the last couple of weeks and there has been quite an amount of interest shown.

“It’s going to be a massive thing for the club, and for the community, and will enable the boys to get involved in something that we can build on.

“So I hope we will get the coverage that this exciting new scheme deserves, and we encourage boys of 16-18 to come along and give it a go.

“With a big local name like Adam Murray helping out it should be a great draw, and if we get the numbers indicated by the early response it can take off in a big way.”

Rainworth Reserves’ match against Retford United Reserves, initially scheduled for Saturday, has been re-arranged for next Wednesday, 23rd October.

The match was switched to Tuesday when the first team’s game against Lincoln was re-scheduled to Saturday, but has now moved to the more regular reserve midweek night of Wednesday.

The Wrens’ young reserve side, who currently head the Central Midlands Reserve Supreme Division, are now without a game on Saturday.