Can the Millers halt the Hastings charge?

Leaders Hastings United will see their title credentials face a severe test, as they travel to face fourth place Cray Valley PM, who will undoubtedly be up for a battle. United, who arrive at the Artic Stadium (no, that isn’t a spelling mistake from The Apprentice) after six consecutive wins, face a Millers side who will be looking to bounce back after losing their last two, and are unlikely to ever have a bigger target to aim at. The hosts have slipped to twelve points behind their visitors, but will be focused on ensuring their place in the end of season shootout.

Ashford United, seven points behind Hastings in second place and five ahead of third place Ramsgate, look to be the only side likely to have the chance to challenge our top side for automatic promotion. The Nuts and Bolts welcome second bottom Phoenix Sports, and have found top form at just the right time, having won their last five. Sports, however, have played more like a mid table side than relegation candidates over the last couple of months, and shouldn’t be written off.

The Rams are also at home, welcoming Lancing to Southwood. The most startling statistic about the Rams recent form has perhaps been their inability to draw- their last ten matches have seen seven victories and three defeats- whilst the Lancers, in fourteenth, have shown a remarkable turnaround from the early months of the season, with only three defeats from their last ten. The side in yellow defeated Burgess Hill Town last week, whilst the Rams were walloping another Sussex side, East Grinstead Town, three-nil.

Haywards Heath Town now have a four point cushion over Herne Bay, and victory at Hythe Town today could take them as high as third. The last time they met, at Hanbury Park, the Cannons left with victory- so revenge would indeed be sweet for Heath, who got back to winning ways last time out after losing their last two. Hythe have only two wins from ten, and certainly aren’t free from relegation worries just yet.

Herne Bay host a kent derby as Faversham Town come to call. Bay have found form difficult to come by at perhaps the worst time, only winning three of their last ten, and yet have had moments where they have been very good indeed- and they could do with another one of those today if the top five aren’t to sail over the horizon. Faversham looked to have turned around their own poor run, and were three without loss until they fell by a single goal at Haywards Heath last weekend.

Burgess Hill Town have seen their promotion charge slow down a little, the Hillians having lost four of their last six. Eight points behind the top five, they need to become the latest club to make bottom side Whitstable Town miserable today, when the Oysters travel to Mid Sussex (Wivelsfield Station, everyone- WIVELSFIELD- not that Wivelsfield Station is actually anywhere near Wivelsfield, by the way…). The visitors are now looking at a very large gap between themselves and safety, and after seven successive defeats their chances of a great escape are hanging by a thread.

VCD Athletic, nine points behind the top five, welcome another relegation-threatened side, Whitehawk. Vickers saw a four match unbeaten run come to an end when Sittingbourne came to call last time out, whilst the Hawks are on a terrible run- they don’t tend to lose, with only three defeats from their last ten, but they’ve drawn the other seven of them! The last time they met was back on November 13th, and the Hawks won that one, but have only won one other match since.

Sittingbourne, who are also nine points off a top five spot, travel to face one of our form sides, Three Bridges. The club by the home of the rail replacement bus service have been in superb form, unbeaten in five, having won four of those, and scoring goals for fun. The Brickies have also found form once more, winning their last two matches after previously experiencing three narrow defeats, and won’t have given up on their promotion hopes just yet. The two have already met twice, in league and cup, and the two have only been separated by a penalty shootout. We won’t have one of those today!

Chichester City welcome a resurgent Sevenoaks Town. It’s perhaps difficult to call two unbeaten matches under new boss Harry Hudson a resurgence, but the manner of those performances was a step up in quality from their previous five, which they lost, and they put three past promotion-chasing Herne Bay last time out. City have lost their last four, so will be desperate to arrest their slide.

Corinthian welcome East Grinstead Town. The visiting Wasps seem to have lost their wings of late, as they keep falling flat on their faces- without a win in six, with one point from the eighteen available and every defeat without scoring a goal. Corinthian have been a little up and down, but will be much happier with the two wins, two draws and two defeats they’ve had from their last six. The last time they met, there were no goals.

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