Gainsborough Trinity vs Witton Albion.

Northern Premier League football returns on Saturday afternoon when Witton make the long trip to Gainsborough Trinity in their opening fixture.

Pre season has been mixed in terms of results for Albion and missing key players didn’t help, but keeping the majority of last season’s squad together with the exception of four players will have been of great benefit to the management team.

New additions to the squad such as George Nugent & Jawad Jebrin and the return to Wincham Park of goalkeeper Greg Hall, together with a couple of loan signings and trialists been signed on adds competition to the squad.

Gainsborough sat handily-placed in tenth when the season was curtailed and new manager Tom Shaw appointed in April, will be looking to make his mark with them this season with the young squad he has assembled. Their pre season campaign saw them lose only one of their games so they approach the new season with confidence.

Witton’s last visit to Gainsborough saw them return to Cheshire with all three points following an excellent 3-1 win from what is a very tough place to go and especially after going a goal down inside four minutes. Isaac Baldwin brought Witton level within minutes, before second half goals from Tom Owens and James Hooper in the last minute secured the victory.

Witton face another tough challenge this time around but will be looking to get the new season off to a positive start.

Kick Off at The Gainsborough Martin & Co Arena is 3pm.

GAINSBOROUGH TRINITY FC,
THE GAINSBOROUGH MARTIN & CO ARENA,
NORTHOLME,
GAINSBOROUGH,
LINCOLNSHIRE,
DN21 2QW.

Directions: From A556 follow for 5.0 miles. At Tabley Interchange, take the 2nd exit and stay on A556 for 4.2 miles. Keep right and follow for 1.1 miles. Merge onto M56 and follow for 5.4 miles. Keep left at the fork to stay on M56 for 2.2 miles. Merge onto M60 and follow for 6.8 miles. At junction 24, take the A57 exit to M67/M’cr City Centre/Denton/Hyde/Sheffield and continue for 0.3 miles. At Denton Island, take the 3rd exit onto M67 heading to Hyde/Barnsley/Sheffield and follow for 0.2 miles. Keep right to stay on M67 and follow for 4.7 miles. At Hattersley Roundabout, take the 2nd exit onto Hyde Road/A57.
Continue to follow A57 for 1.3 miles. Continue onto Market Street/A628 and follow for 13.7 miles. At the roundabout, take the 3rd exit onto A616 and follow for 9.3 miles. At Westwood Roundabout, take the 3rd exit and stay on A616 follow for 1.3 miles. At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto the M1 slip road to London/Sheffield/Rotherham and continue for 0.5 miles. Merge onto M1 and continue for 10.0 miles. At junction 32, take the M18 exit to Hull/Doncaster and follow for 1.2 miles. Continue onto M18 and follow for 9.0 miles. At junction 3, take the A6182 exit to Doncaster and follow for 0.2 miles. At the roundabout, take the 3rd exit onto Great Yorkshire Way/A6182 and follow for 0.9 miles. At the roundabout, take the 1st exit and stay on Great Yorkshire Way/A6182. Continue to follow Great Yorkshire Way for 2.0 miles. At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit onto Great North Road/A638 and continue for 4.4 miles. Turn left onto Gainsborough Road/A631 and follow for 8.1 miles. At the roundabout, take the 3rd exit and stay on A631 for 0.8 miles. At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit and stay on A631 for 2.3 miles. At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Trinity Street/A159 Continue to follow A159 for 0.8 miles. Turn right onto Northolme/B1433 - Football Stadium on the right after 226 ft.
(Total Distance - 96.3 miles).

Directions shown follow the shortest route but alternative routes are available and maybe more suitable.

Parking: Matchday car parking is available opposite the Martin & Co Arena, land on which the old Co-op Garage used to stand, at a small charge of £2 per vehicle. Please park to ensure social distancing. All the monies raised go back into the Community Club.

Admission Prices: Adults £12, Concessions (Over 65’s & Students) £8, Under 16’s £4, Under 5’s Admitted FREE.

Tickets are available now online via Trinity’s digital ticket office
gainsboroughtrinityfc.ktckts.com - Cash payments at the turnstiles will also be accepted.

Matchday Programme: £2.50 - A limited number will be on sale at the turnstiles. Programmes can also be ordered online afterwards.

Following the lifting of COVID restrictions, rules have now changed in and around the Social Club. Face coverings are no longer mandatory but are recommended in enclosed spaces.

Track and Trace is being retained for supporters who wish to use it but is no longer mandatory.

Social Club: The Blues Club is next to the stadium and is open from 12pm. Please note: Alcohol is permitted inside the stadium but MUST be in a plastic beaker.

Refreshments: The Tea Bar is near to the turnstiles in the corner of the stadium selling hot & cold food, drinks & snacks.

For supporters not travelling to Gainsborough, full match commentary will be available on https://Mixlr.com/gainstrinityfc and I will also hopefully be providing updates.

So here we go again let’s hope we complete this season. I have no idea what the team might be with no updates on injuries to McKenna, Jones, Foley, Smart or signings from the trialists we had but guess we might have to play at least one of the loan players. So my absolute guess at a team

Hall
Nugent, Ryan, McNulty, Wardle, Baldwin
Woodthorpe, Owens, Foley, Jebrin
Jones, Hopley

But I can see us playing one up front and using Baldwin in midfield maybe whatever good luck lads

UTA

The only thing I can add is what I saw last night from Andrew Simpson who said: “Billy Smart is missing, Will Jones is a doubt. James Foley & Danny McKenna were expected to travel with the squad and both loan players (Nathan Woodthorpe & Will Sutton) were available for selection.”

Kick off has been put back to 3.15pm due to Witton being delayed in traffic.