Can the Urchins open up a five point gap at the top?

Hornchurch have taken advantage of a Bishop’s Stortford stutter to go top of the table. The Urchins, who find themselves two points clear with two games in hand over their closest rivals, could open up a much larger gap with victory at Wingate & Finchley tonight, and given they are nine matches unbeaten and defeated the Blues two-nil in November they won’t be short of confidence. Wingate have been in good form, however, with only one defeat from their last eight matches, and another win could lift them to fourteen points above the danger zone.

The last time the two sides met on Summers Lane was December 11th 2021, a match won two-one by the visitors due to a Tom Wraight goal three minutes from time.

Lewes, six points away from fifth spot with a game in hand over the side currently occupying it, welcome Brightlingsea Regent to the Dripping Pan. The Rooks ended a four game winless run with narrow victory over Enfield Town on Saturday, and surely need to follow that with another three points if they are to stand any chance of crashing the end of season party. Regent have entirely different problems- thirteen points from safety with only twenty four points left to fight for, if the great escape is going to begin they really need to start digging that tunnel. Their last ten matches have seen them earn only two points- but they have lost only one of their last five encounters with the Rooks, the last two ended in two-two draws. A point, however, won’t be much good to either side tonight.

Horsham, five points away from fifth place, would climb to seventh with a win at Potters Bar Town. The Hornets have only two defeats from their last ten, whilst their hosts have only one win- and seven defeats- from the same period. The Scholars probably have enough points to escape the drop, but their form has been almost consistently dreadful since former boss Sammy Moore departed for Faversham Town. Three first half goals for Tom Richards, Lucas Rodrigues and Tom Kavanagh gave the Hornets three points the last time the sides met, in a three-two victory.

Herne Bay scored two goals right at the end of their match with Bognor Regis Town on Saturday to keep their survival hopes alive. If they could make it three wins in a row when Haringey Borough arrive this evening they could close to within two points of safety- so we’ve no doubt that Kingstonian will be praying that the boys from North London have a trouble free journey to the seaside. You never know quite what you are going to get from sixteenth place Borough, who have only won two of their last ten, but they aren’t entirely free of danger which should focus their minds somewhat. Bay defeated Borough four-two at Coles Park in August.

Finally, Bognor Regis Town and Margate meet at Nyewood Lane. It has been rather a frustrating season for both sides, who have been maddeningly inconsistent for most of the campaign, and they sit together in fourteenth and fifteenth place in the table, both with forty points. With a twelve point cushion over the bottom four they are both almost safe, but we suspect they’d both like to make certain as quickly as possible. The Blues won their encounter on Bonfire Night by two goals to nil.

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