It's a big FA Trophy weekend!

The FA Trophy First Round kicks off tomorrow, and five of our clubs remain in the competition. We thought we’d preview each tie in detail.

Billericay Town, this years Bostik Premier Division title favourites, face last years champions Havant & Waterlooville at the AGP Arena. The Blues, who defeated the Hawks National League South rivals Hungerford Town for the second time this season in the last round, look to have no injury worries for tomorrow’s match, whilst the Hawks also report a clean bill of health.

On paper both sides look well matched. Billericay’s form of late has been extremely good- indeed they’ve lost only two matches all season- and last Saturday they scored their 103rd goal of the campaign as a Jake Robinson double gave them victory at Staines Town. Havant are also having an exceptional season; not only do they sit in fourth place in their division but they have lost only one away league match all season. Indeed their last defeat in all competitions came more than two months ago, when they went out of the FA Cup at Maidenhead United. Former Bognor Regis Town striker Jason Prior is their leading scorer with sixteen goals this season, but of course Billericay have Jake Robinson, who currently has 31.

This season’s cup heroes Heybridge Swifts face another away tie, this time at Hampton & Richmond Borough. The Beavers currently sit in third place in National League South and have won their last nine straight matches, whilst Swifts can only be weakened by Sam Bantick’s departure for Tonbridge Angels, but the Bostik North side have beaten a number of higher ranked opponents this season and won’t be phased by tomorrow’s challenge. Speaking after their win in the last round against Kingstonian, manager Jody Brown was quite clear on how he would approach tomorrow’s match:

“We’ll do our planning properly and set ourselves up to be difficult to beat. We’ve played a number of away matches against higher league opposition and our goal has to be to bring them back to our place as we’ve proven that we can be a match for any side at Scraley Road.”

He wasn’t underestimating the Beavers quality, however:

“The problem we’ll have, however, is that- as Dartford proved at Brentwood Town- when you play a side from that level, a side going well two divisions above us, they have quality strikers who can conjure a clinical finish from nothing even when they are being outplayed. We found that out against Exeter City in the FA Cup; we matched them for most of the game and then a little bit of skill from a forward and we were behind and ultimately out. So no matter how well we’ve done we won’t be over confident; we’re aware of the scale of the challenge in front of us.”

Perhaps the tie of the round will take place on White Hart Lane, as Haringey Borough take on National League side Leyton Orient. The O’s have had a torrid start to their first season in Non League but look to have finally found some form, walloping league leaders Sutton United 4-1 last weekend. Borough’s form recently has been mixed, but they got back to wining ways last weekend against AFC Sudbury and Tom Loizou’s men will not be short on confidence in front of what will undoubtedly be the biggest crowd in the club’s history.

Speaking after the draw was made, Tom was confident that his side could cause an upset.

“That’s not me being disrespectful,” he explained, “and I promise you that I haven’t taken leave of my senses! I’m quite aware that we won’t be the favourites. But if we can put out our strongest side then we have players easily good enough to play at their level, and they’ll know that they’ve been in a match.”

Hendon also face National League South opposition, as Bath City- conquerors of Margate in the last round- travel to Silver Jubilee Park. The Greens are having a magnificent season and should they emerge victorious tomorrow will celebrate their best run in the competition since 2004-05, whilst City, who currently sit in twelfth place and drew with Bognor Regis Town last time out, will look to continue an unbeaten run that stretches back six weeks. That doesn’t show the entire picture, however, as their last four fixtures- if you include a 2-2 draw with Margate which they won only on penalties- each ended all-square.

Finally, Wingate & Finchley are another club taking on a side from National League South, as they travel to Wealdstone. The Stones have probably become better known for their Raider rather than their football in recent years, and their recent form has been a little mixed. They lost 3-1 at Concord Rangers last weekend, yet in the last round of the Trophy travelled to much-fancied Chelmsford City and came back with a famous victory. If Finchley fans are looking for an omen, the last time Wealdstone faced a Bostik Premier Division side was when they travelled to Burgess Hill Town in the FA Cup on the last day of September, and left empty handed after a last gasp defeat.

The Blues should go into the match with a great deal of confidence on the back of four straight victories- and indeed after only one defeat in the last nine matches.

Good luck to all of our sides in the FA Trophy- hopefully we’ll have five names in the Second Round Draw next week!