The last meeting between the two sides took place in February 2023 where an Etien Omari goal wasn’t enough as Eastwood went down 2-1. The last matchup at Coronation Park was more memorable as Nick Labbate secured his first win as First Team boss as a single Jack Thatcher penalty was enough to earn all three points.

On the day, Willis Francis (1 game ban) and Mark Clarke (holiday) were both absent leaving Billy Bennett at the helm. interim gaffer Bennett named just three players who started the 1-0 defeat to Gresley on the last day of last season, with Tony Gbopo, Louis Nicholson and Harry Wood all keeping their place. There was full debuts for Scott Loach, Bradley Gascoigne, Theo Sackey-Mensah, Connor Dimaio, Jacob Pearce, Revarnelle James and L’Varn Brandy as well as a recall for Tyler Blake.

With expectations high it was the visitors who got off to the perfect start, Sackey-Mensah was withdrawn from the pitch with a head injury from the resulting restart Nirvana took the throw in quickly and lofted the ball forward for Parkes who took a great touch before picking out Allen who curled the ball fantastically into the top corner past Loach.

Eastwood registered their first shot on target minutes later as Nicholsons deep cross was tamely headed into the keepers hands by Wood. A dangerous corner from James was then somehow cleared as the Red Badgers looked for an equaliser.

From the other side it was Brandy with the delivery from a corner his cross picked out an unmarked Gascoigne who couldn’t generate the power on his header. Brandy then tried his luck from distance from another dead ball stinging the palms of Castle.

Leicester continued to defend well limiting Eastwood to shots from distance of which Jacob Pearce had a couple of as the half drew to a close.

Eastwood 0-1 Leicester Nirvana

Eastwood made two changes during the interval bringing on Joel Stevens and Luke Rawson to replace Revarnelle James the injured Jacob Pearce. The two substitutes combined, almost immediately as Stevens raced clear of Fombad the ball fell nicely to Rawson who couldn’t sort his feet and eventually the ball broke to Brandy who shot wide.

Against the run of play the visitors broke… Clayton-Naute skipped past Gbopo before the young right back brought him down, no hesitation from the referee who pointed straight at the spot. Up stepped the pacey winger who sent Loach the wrong way to double Nirvana’s advantage. 0-2

Almost immediately Eastwood hit back. Dimaio picked up the ball from a poor clearance and lifted into Blake who played a nice one-two with Rawson before slotting home to half the deficit.

L’Varn Brandy showed off his pace as he burst past Magagada on a couple of occasions but it lead to nothing. In the 68th minute Leicester restored their two goal lead. After a good recovering tackle from Mensah-Sackey a mix up in communication saw Josh Allen pounce on the loose ball and smash home. 1-3

Clayton-Naute was at it again fives minutes later, he evaded the offside trap and forced a brilliant save out of Loach who kept the game alive.

With ten minutes remaining of normal time Tyler Blake latched onto a miss placed back pass and fired past Castle for his second goal of the afternoon. 2-3.

As the Red Badgers pushed for an equaliser the visitors number seven once again showed his pace and quality drilling across a dangerous ball the Frances inadvertently put in his own net.

Another really good save from Loach and last ditch block from Frances kept the score at 2-4.

There was still enough time for Eastwood to get a third, Dimaio picked up the ball inside his own half and picked out Rawson who slid in to net on his debut.

The Red Badgers huffed and puffed but couldn’t find that evasive equaliser.

FT: Eastwood 3-4 Leicester Nirvana

Eastwood CFC Lineup:
1. Scott Loach
2. ⁠Tony Gbopo (Flanagan 73)
3. ⁠Louis Nicholson
4. ⁠Bradley Gascoigne (c) (Frances 67)
5. ⁠Theo Sackey-Mensah
6. ⁠Jacob Pearce (Rawson 46)
7. ⁠Revarnelle James (Stevens 46)
8. ⁠Connor Dimaio
9. ⁠Tyler Blake (52,80)
10. ⁠Harry Wood
11. ⁠L’Varn Brandy (Nangle 73)

Subs
12 Theo Flanagan
14 Luke Rawson (90+1)
15 Rashaan Frances (own goal 87)
16 Romello Nangle
17 Joel Stevens

Leicester Nirvana

1. Liam Castle
18. Alvin Magagada (King 73)
3. Kelly Fombard
4. ⁠Jordan Smith
5. ⁠Felix Fonbom
6. ⁠Liam Taylor (Ashkir 89)
7. ⁠Tamar Clayton-Naute (50pen)
8. ⁠Jorrin John (Bham 65)
9. ⁠Lamar Parkes (Edwards-John 73)
10. ⁠Josh Allen (7,68) (Sanches 71)
11. ⁠Kyle Tott (c)

Subs
2 Lynas King
14 Kairo Edwards-John
15 Ali Ashkir
16 Evandro Sanches
17 Mussa Bham