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Lydd Town bid to leapfrog promotion rivals Larkfield & New Hythe in rearranged Southern Counties East Division 1 game

05:00, 05 April 2023

updated: 07:45, 05 April 2023

Play-off rivals Larkfield & New Hythe and Lydd will try again tonight (Wednesday, 7.45pm) after their weekend postponement.

A waterlogged pitch saw Saturday’s second v third meeting in Southern Counties East Division 1 called off.

Lydd striker Luke Burdon faces his old club tonight. Picture: Ian Scammell
Lydd striker Luke Burdon faces his old club tonight. Picture: Ian Scammell

The fixture has been swiftly rearranged, with Lydd, whose in-form striker Luke Burdon used to play for Larkfield, hoping to leapfrog the hosts in the table.

The Larks have a new management team in Danny Lye and Mickey Phillips after Kris Browning stood down following a midweek defeat by Staplehurst.

“Everyone knew Saturday was going to be off with the weather the way it was,” said Lydd boss Mickey Doyle.

“We’re looking forward to tonight. We know what we’ve got to do.

“Two wins will get us in the play-offs. Four wins will get us second place. We’ve just got to try and win all our games. It’s as simple as that.

“There’s no point trying to plan things or trying to be too clever.

“I don’t know what happened with Kris Browning but he’s a nice bloke and I’ve known him a long time.

“Whether Larkfield have hit the panic button or Kris thought it wasn’t working, I don’t know, but there’s only four games left.

“I know Danny Lye was Ashford manager a few years ago. They’ve brought in some players, so we’ll have to see what we’re up against.”

Lydd host SC Thamesmead on Saturday and visit Faversham Strike Force on Easter Monday (both 3pm).

Doyle has the numbers to make changes if necessary with two games in three days.

“We haven’t really got any injuries, so I’ve got 20 players to choose from,” said Doyle. “There might be an element of rotation but only a couple of players because we want to try and keep our momentum.

“We’ve got options but we’ve also got to look at availability because people have lives as well. People might be going away or have things to do and it might be some can play one game game but not the other.

“It’s good to have a big squad. It gives me a headache every week but it’s a good position to be in.

“I don’t like making calls to tell people they aren’t playing but it’s part and parcel of football.

“We’ve got a good group and everyone’s played quite a lot of games. No one can say they haven’t had opportunities.”

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