Our North weekend starts at Witham- tonight!

Our Pitching In Isthmian North Division fixtures begin this evening, when fifth place Heybridge Swifts look to climb to third with victory at Witham Town. Swifts are unbeaten in ten matches, and yet so tight is the battle for a place in the top five that three draws from their last five have seen them slip down a place. Their hosts are down in fourteenth, have lost their last two, but are hoping to compete a double as they defeated these opponents one-nil at the end of September, a Luke Ige goal the difference.

Onto Saturday now, and leaders Lowestoft Town will hope to at least hold onto their five point advantage as second bottom Grays Athletic make a long trip to the seaside. The Trawler Boys have been in inconsistent form of late, their last three wins followed by defeat, but got back to winning ways against Witham in midweek and will want to put an end to that sequence. Athletic also won in midweek, ending a four match losing run by scoring four at Ipswich Wanderers, and will hope to avenge a three-two defeat against Town on the last day of September. Last seasons meetings between the sides left each with a home win.

Second place Felixstowe and Walton United welcome sixth place Basildon United. The Seasiders seem to have got over their blip, and are one defeat from five and three unbeaten, whilst the Bees saw a three match winning streak come to an end against Ipswich Wanderers last time out, but haven’t played for a fortnight. A Basildon win could lift them back into the top five, whilst their hosts are just trying to at least keep pace with the leaders, and have a good record against the Bees, winning their last four meetings. The last of those ended four-two to the Seasiders.

Bowers and Pitsea have been in fine form of late, and any Felixstowe slip up could see them climb to second if they can defeat Ipswich Wanderers. Bowers have lost only one of their last ten, and have won their last five at home, whilst Wanderers have lost nine of their last ten. When the two sides met at the Doucy in the autumn, goals from Daniel Thompson and Manny Oluwasemo gave Bowers a two-nil win.

Brentwood Town, who start the weekend in fourth place (but might slip to fifth tonight dependent on the Swifts result), welcome tenth place Walthamstow to the Arena. The Blues have only one defeat from their last ten, whilst the visitors seem to have hauled themselves back onto an even keel, losing only one of their last five. When the two sides met in East 17, Brentwood triumphed two-one.

Bury Town have roared up the table in recent weeks, and the Blues find themselves only three points away from a top five spot. Nine matches unbeaten, and with seven victories including five of the last six, Town look the real deal as promotion contenders and will expect another three points as bottom side Stowmarket Town head to Ram Meadow- but Stow, despite the fact they are still searching for a first win of the season, will feel that recent performances have deserved more reward and will be determined to put that right. Bury won their first encounter this season by five goals to nil, which was their first win against these opponents in seven attempts.

Maldon and Tiptree welcome Brightlingsea Regent as eighth plays ninth. The Jammers saw a three match winning run come to an end against Brentwood Town last time out, and have had a fortnight to stew over that result; whilst Regent have slipped from play off candidates to mid table after losing their last four. When the two sides last met in the league, Regent won three-nil, but the Jammers have since had some sort of revenge for that result by knocking Regent out of the Essex Cup on penalties after a one-one draw. Maldon haven’t defeated Regent in normal time since a two-one win in 2016.

New Salamis, in twelfth, welcome fifteenth place Redbridge to Coles Park. The hosts have lost only three of their last ten and are moving steadily up the table, whilst the Motormen have been heading in the opposite direction, courtesy of a run which has seen take only five points from the last thirty available. The sides have already met three times this season, twice in the FA Cup- a tie which saw the North Londoners beat the East Londoners three-one in a replay after an initial two-two draw. The Motormen hosted the only league meeting of the season between the sides, which ended three-three, so there have been fourteen goals scored in matches between the sides already this season.

Wroxham welcome Enfield to the beautiful Broads. The Yachtsmen start the weekend in thirteenth place, four places and six points better off than their visitors, and will hope to build on their three- two win over Stowmarket last time out, their first victory in seven matches. With only one win from ten, the E’s will hope that their two draws from the last three are a sign of progress. The first match of the season between the sides was a five goal thriller, Enfield winning three-two.

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