Scholars teach Tags a lesson, Towners take narrow victory, and Bognor somehow turn defeat into three points!

By Ian Townsend

Potters Bar Town hit Hashtag for five, Enfield Town are back to third, and Bognor stun Cray at the seaside on Premier Tuesday


Potters Bar Town’s results over the last few months very much look like promotion form despite their position in the lower reaches of the table, and last night they made it four wins from five- and indeed, two defeats from fifteen- as they hammered Hashtag United to light up the Lantern Stadium.

The Tags December was superb- so good, in fact, that the Vita Risk Solutions Manager of the Month Award was off to the Len Salmon- but on this occasion it seems to have come with a curse, as they have now lost every match they’ve played in January. The Scholars went ahead on nine minutes, Ore Bello with the opener, and on the half hour they made it two, Ryan Hervel with his first home goal of the campaign. Eight minutes into the second half and Bello did it again, leaving the visitors with no hope of salvaging anything from the game, and then Darnell Goather-Braithwaite made it four goals in five matches for the club, adding the fourth of the night with twenty five minutes to go and the fifth right at the end. Five-nil the final score, the Scholars jubilant- and top of the six match form table.

In the actual table, Potters Bar Town are fifteenth, whilst Hashtag United remain seventh.

Enfield Town are up to third, the Towners getting back to winning ways against Haringey Borough in a North London derby. This was Town’s first match of 2024 following postponements, and it took a late winner to give them three points. Jonathan Hippolyte came on from the bench with nineteen minutes left, and had been on the pitch for only four minutes when he made the decisive contribution, scoring his second late goal in three matches for the Towners. Super sub? We suspect it’s not the label he would like, but many more like this and it might start to stick!

Cray Wanderers seemed to have victory at Bognor Regis Town as good as confirmed. Wands were looking for a fifth unbeaten match, and with Gary Lockyer’s eighteenth minute goal seeing them ahead as they reached the last three minutes at the MKM Arena, it looked as if they’d get at least a point- but sadly for the travelling faithful, Dan Gifford had other ideas. His thirteenth goal of the season was only unlucky for the visitors, but his fourteenth- right at the end- was a disaster for Wands, as it left them with nothing whilst sending the Rocks up to ninth. With only one defeat from their last ten- and that coming against the run of play against Lewes- perhaps Bognor might just be hoping to mount a promotion chase. They are eight points away from the top five- whilst last night’s opponents find themselves in sixteenth.

Note to all clubs- please upload any goal of the month contenders as soon as you can, to the address we sent you!

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Where next?

Deres start manager search Matt Longhurst departs Erith & Belvedere
Woking youngster becomes a Mole Jack Matton signs on at Binfield

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