Can the Woods extend their lead- and continue their home dominance?

By Ian Townsend

Each of our leading South Central clubs have suffered their slip ups of late- which leaves Northwood with a four point lead. Can the chasing pack narrow the gap?


Northwood have a four point lead at the top of the table- a lead they’ve retained despite a few recent slip ups because each member of the chasing pack has been similarly capable of delivering a defeat where a victory looked likely. The Woods welcome Hanworth Villa, the Villains having hit a rough patch of their own for the first time this season, taking one point from their last three matches and conceding nine goals in the process. Having won their last two, Woods will hope that their mini-blip is over, and welcome former Hanwell Town hotshot Gareth Chendlik to their squad for the first time. They’ll be further boosted by the fact that they have the best home record in the Division.

Second place Walton & Hersham have become terribly inconsistent, winning five and losing five of their last ten. The Swans will hope to get back to winning ways because they are travelling to face bottom side Merstham, the Moatsiders with only one win all season- although they are on their best run of form so far, with only one defeat from their last five matches.

Third place Marlow welcome Binfield to the land where the red kites fly free. Marlow are top of our ten match form table, with only two defeats from their last ten- whilst the Moles look to have rediscovered their early-season confidence, with only one defeat from their last five. The two have already met twice in cup competitions this season, the Moles winning four-nil in the FA Trophy and three-nil in the Velocity Cup. Is it time for some revenge for the hosts?

Basingstoke Town saw their five match winning streak come to an end against Walton & Hersham last time out, but last time out was more than two weeks ago- so they’ll be glad to be back in action. Stoke are eight points behind the leaders, but do have two games in hand, and will hope to narrow the gap as Thatcham Town come to call. The Kingfishers are on their best run of the season, and travel on the back of three consecutive wins and a run of only one defeat from their last six. Both of their meetings last season were thrillers- Stoke winning them both, by the odd goal in seven and the odd goal in five.

Fifth place South Park Reigate will be leaving on a jet plane quite early this morning, as they are travelling to Guernsey. The Green Lions are still without a home win, and are in the midst of a dreadful slump, with just one win in ten and having conceded fifteen goals in their last three matches. The Sparks have lost only one of their last five and have a fabulous record against these opponents, with only one defeat- way back in 2015- from their last eleven meetings.

Chertsey Town looked back to their best in defeating Hanworth Villa four-nil on Boxing Day. The Curfews have lost only two of their last ten and are only three points behind the two sides directly above them, so will hope that Basingstoke or South park slip up. The Curfews may not have it all their own way, however, as the side visiting them are the side directly behind them in the table, Westfield. Field similarly have only two defeats from ten and have promotion pretentions of their own.

We’ve a derby on the outskirts of the airport as Ashford Town welcome Southall. The Tangerines will hope that they’ve turned around their mid-season slump with a win, a draw and a defeat from their last three; whilst Hall are having a fine first season since promotion, with only two narrow defeats from ten matches, and start the day seven points clear of their landlords.

Chipstead have been excellent of late, and welcome Tooting & Mitcham United to the High Road looking to defend a seven match unbeaten run. The Terrors finally picked up a win last time out, after six matches without one, and will hope that another three points might lift them out of the bottom four. Nine points separate the two sides in the table, and another win for the hosts could take them into the top ten.

Uxbridge welcome Bedfont Sports- newly reinforced with two New Years Day signings- to Honeycroft. The hosts have been distracted by their FA Trophy exploits and have only one win from their last five league matches, a run which has seen them drop to eleven points behind the play oiff places; whilst Sports are in their best form of the campaign, five matches unbeaten, and will hope to open a gap between themselves and the bottom four with another three points.

Leatherhead, in fifteenth place, will be boosted by their victory over promotion-chasing Walton & Hersham last time out, but are yet to find any consistent form. The Tanners were firm promotion favourites as the season kicked off, but have spent the entire campaign so far looking at the wrong end of the table and have a thirteen point gap to make up on the top five. They welcome the side two places and three points behind them, Sutton Common Rovers. Rovers travel on the back of six consecutive defeats- a run which has seen them drop into the bottom four.

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