"Bucks travel to the UK's easternmost point looking for a fourth league win in a row"

Match Date : September 7th, 2024 3:00 pm
Competition : Southern League Premier Central
Ground : Crown Meadow
Kick Off : 15:00

The Bucks make their longest trip of season this Saturday, when Kevin Wilkin will take his men to Suffolk to face Lowestoft Town.

The Trawler Boys are led by one of their greatest ever players, Jamie Godbold. The former midfielder made exactly 500 appearances for the Trawler Boys and took the reins at Crown Meadow in May 2018. Godbold’s tenure has been up and down since then, with Lowestoft finishing bottom of the Southern Premier League Central in 2021-22 before earning their place back in Step 3 last season; Lowestoft ended four points clear of Bury Town to claim last season’s Isthmian League North Division title.

Town have had a mixed campaign so far this term, winning two and losing three of their five league games. A 6-2 win over Potters Bar saw the Trawler Boys progress in the FA Cup, but Town were walloped 6-1 by AFC Sudbury last time out in the league.

The Bucks lost 3-0 on their only previous visit to Crown Meadow, which came under Steve Kittrick’s charge back on the opening day of the 2015-16 season. The Bucks won the return match 1-0 to help what was then Rob Smith’s side narrowly avoid back-to-back relegations that year. The Bucks ultimately finished 18th on 47 points, while the 20th-place Trawler Boys went down on 46 points. Interestingly, the side sandwiched between Town and the Bucks was Kevin Wilkin’s Brackley outfit, who ended 19th on 46 points. Wilkin was appointed Saints boss during that campaign, and his side finished the season seven unbeaten to stay up on the final day.

Somewhat remarkably, two of the members of the Lowestoft side that face the Bucks nine years ago are still with the Trawler Boys. Midfielder Robert Eagle is now in his fourth spell with the Suffolk club, while forward Jake Reed notched his 200th goal for Town last weekend – two of those strikes coming in that 3-0 win against the Bucks in 2015. Captain and defensive leader, Travis Cole, is another stalwart having made more than 250 appearances for Town.

The Bucks were disappointingly knocked out of the FA Cup last weekend at Gainsborough, but Kevin Wilkin’s men have won three in a row in the league and sit just three points off top spot. A fourth straight league win would be the perfect tonic to last Saturday’s Cup result.

MATCHDAY INFORMATION

Website: www.lowestofttownfc.co.uk 

Ground Address: Crown Meadow, Love Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR32 2PA