Boston Town FC vs Sherwood Colliery
Boston Town FC
WLast 5
Kicks off in
10d 19h
Sherwood Colliery
WLast 5
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Jay Thompson · 10 August 2026
Right, listen. It is FA Cup day. And not the fancy third round stuff with the big clubs and the TV cameras and the pundits in suits. This is the real FA Cup. The preliminary rounds. The muddy pitches and the meat pies and the bloke on the gate who also plays left back when someone pulls out on a Friday night. This is where the magic actually starts. Boston Town versus Sherwood Colliery, Saturday the 22nd of August, three o'clock kick-off. Get involved.
Look, data is limited at this level. Both teams have played one competitive game each heading into this tie, so we are not exactly swimming in statistics here. But what we do have tells an interesting little story. Both sides won their opening fixture. Both sides scored goals. And neither side kept a clean sheet. Honestly, that is exactly what you want from a cup tie preview. The vibes are immaculate.
Boston Town picked up a win on the road, scoring twice and conceding one. Every game in their sample, which yes is just the one game, had goals at both ends. Every game went over two and a half goals. Small sample size, I know, I know. But the direction of travel is encouraging if you like watching football rather than just surviving it.
Sherwood Colliery? Also won. Also conceded. Their solitary result this season saw them put three past the opposition and ship two themselves. So we have got a theme developing here. These are two sides who come to play. Neither looks nailed on to park the bus and grind out a nil-nil. And in an FA Cup preliminary round on a warm August afternoon, that is all you can really ask for.
Boston Town are the home side here. They are a Lincolnshire club with genuine non-league pedigree and a fanbase that cares. Playing at home in the FA Cup matters to clubs at this level. It is not just three points. It is local pride. It is the possibility, however slim, of a run. The players know what it means. The supporters know what it means.
Sherwood Colliery come from Nottinghamshire. Mining heritage in the name, and that tells you something about the culture of the club. These are communities where football is not a lifestyle choice, it is just part of who you are. They travel to Boston with a win already behind them and three goals scored. They are not coming to make up the numbers.
Look at the fixtures situation for both sides. One game each, no head-to-head history in our records, no injury concerns flagged. This is genuinely a blank canvas. And sometimes that is fine. Sometimes you just watch the football.
Right, here is where I actually looked at the numbers for once, even though the numbers are essentially one match each and Marcus would probably tell me that is statistically meaningless. But hear me out. Both teams scored in their respective openers. Both teams conceded. The BTTS rate for both sides this season sits at one hundred percent. The over two and a half goals rate for both sides also sits at one hundred percent. Is that a small sample? Yes. Absolutely yes. Does it mean goals are nailed on here? No, of course not. But is it a signal worth noting? I reckon so.
Neither goalkeeper has kept a clean sheet yet. Both attacks have goals in them. In an early-season cup tie where legs are fresh and neither side is playing for survival yet, the pressure is actually off a bit. Teams play with freedom in these rounds. And freedom usually means goals.
The FA Cup preliminary rounds are not about being clever. They are about wanting it. And from what we can see, both of these sides turned up and competed in their first outings. Neither capitulated. Neither sat back and hoped. They both went for it. That is encouraging.
Honestly, I could sit here and pretend I have got deep tactical insight into Boston Town's press triggers or Sherwood Colliery's defensive shape. I do not. Nobody does at this stage. The data just is not there yet. And that is actually part of what makes the non-league FA Cup so brilliant. You cannot overthink it. You just have to show up and see what happens.
Some of the best afternoons I have ever had watching football have been at grounds like these. A few hundred people on a touchline. The manager screaming from the dugout. A striker who works in a warehouse Monday to Friday and absolutely batters someone's centre back on a Saturday. That is the game. That is what it is supposed to feel like.
Boston Town have home advantage and that counts for something at this level. Familiar pitch. Home crowd. Knowing which way the wind blows. These things matter more when the margins are this fine. I would lean towards the home side having a slight edge just from the atmosphere and the familiarity factor. But Sherwood scoring three in their opener suggests they have got firepower and they are not afraid to use it.
Keep an eye on how both sides set up in the opening twenty minutes. That will tell you everything about their intentions. If Boston start on the front foot and press high, they fancy themselves. If Sherwood come here with their three goals of confidence and look to get at the home backline early, this could be a proper open game. Neither clean sheet record this season offers any assurance to the defences involved.
The team that controls the tempo and stays disciplined at the back will have a real chance. But going on form, which again is just one game each and I am aware I keep having to say that, the more likely outcome involves goals at both ends before someone nicks it late. That is the FA Cup, mate. That is why we love it.
You heard it here first. This is going to be a cracking little tie. Mark it in the calendar, set off early, get a pie, and enjoy the proper game.
Correct means the selection settled as won on the 90-minute result. Every selection counted here was recorded before kickoff. Past performance does not guarantee future results.