MARK Owen is in for the most nerve-wracking flight of his life as he jets off on honeymoon during Droitwich Spa’s derby tussle at Worcester Raiders tomorrow (2pm).

The joint-boss got married to fiancee Sue today (Friday) before heading to Lanzarote tomorrow (Saturday), jumping on the plane half an hour before kick-off at Claines Lane.

Owen’s wedding arrangements had long since been put in place prior to the West Midlands (Regional) League releasing its fixtures but the champagne might remain on ice if the result does not go Spa’s way.

“I am gutted,” admitted Owen.

“It is bad enough flying at the best of times without missing a big game.

“As soon as I land I will be straight on the phone and fingers crossed I will be celebrating on my first night.

“This was booked long before we knew about the game but it could not have landed on a worse day – only time will tell whether it is a good or bad thing!”

Top scorer James Lemon will be in the Droitwich ranks again as part of a gentleman’s agreement made when he transferred to Worcester City, boosting the bid to gain revenge for the controversial late penalty that saw Raiders win the reverse fixture 3-2 in October.

“Snapper (City manager John Snape) has been spot on – we helped by getting James in quickly for their games so they were more than happy for him to play in this fixture,” added Owen.

“I think Raiders did enough to win last time, we could talk about the penalty but that has gone now.

“Over the 90 minutes they were the better side. Saturday is a new game, we trained on Thursday and are prepared.

“Whatever the result, there is still a long way to go but it would be nice to get something with Raiders having those two games in hand.

"A win would give them a massive lift but if we could get the points it is all to play for.”

Raiders counterpart Karl Gormley is not perturbed by Lemon’s presence, though, choosing to focus on his own side’s preparations.

“Every time we play Droitwich something seems to happen, we have never had a quiet game against them,” he said.

“That’s what you get in derbies and there is a lot more riding on this one.

“We cannot think about them too much, he (Lemon) played last time and we are not too worried – they can have who they want playing to be honest.

“We would rather play with both teams at full strength, there are no excuses for anyone then.

“Looking back we feel we let them off a bit last time. At 2-0 up it should have been game over but we gave away two sloppy goals.

“We are confident going into the game – very confident – but you never know what is going to happen.

“It will be a bit of a headache picking the team but it is a nice problem to have. We hope to see a good crowd and a top game.”