Stoke and Swans both face tough tests as the title battle continues

Our leaders Basingstoke Town, with a four point lead at the summit, have won their last fourteen matches- and indeed have won nineteen of their last twenty. Stoke are back at home, mid table Uxbridge the visitors. The travelling Reds are in reasonable form and have become rather difficult to beat, with only one defeat in eight, but have developed a habit of drawing matches- five of that eight have ended all-square. Another one of those would be a fine result! Town won their last meeting, in October, by two goals to one- although Uxbridge did play almost half of that match with ten men.

Walton & Hersham, four points adrift of the summit in second place, have won their last eleven matches and hope to make that a beautiful dozen by defeating seventh place Binfield. The Swans will want to be in a position to capitalise should Basingstoke slip up, whilst the Moles, two poijts away from the top five, have struggled for form with only one win from their last eight. They are two unbeaten at this point, and would be delighted to extend that run.

Marlow and Northwood are tied on points in third and fourth. The side in third are on the road to relegation-threatened Bedfont Sports, a ground where they’ve lost on their last two visits- but they did come from two goals down to defeat Sports three-two in October, a last minute winner from Curtis Chapple delivering three points. Sports have only one win from their last ten, and are six points from safety.

Northwood are also on the road, to Thatcham Town. The Woods saw a four match unbeaten run come to an end against the leaders last weekend, but the margin of defeat was rather narrow and they will hope to get back to winning ways. The Kingfishers have lost only two of their last ten, but they have found victory a little difficult to come by of late, taking only two points from the last twelve available. Woods won the previous meeting between the sides by two goals to nil.

Two points separate Southall, in eighth, and Hanworth Villa, in fifth. The two meet at the home of the Villains, and an away win could see the two change places. All are on a good run, with two defeats from ten, and will hope to extend their unbeaten run to five; whilst the Villains slipped up at Marlow on Saturday, ending a three match winning streak. All won their last fixture against Villa by two goals to nil.

By the way, we’ve been advised that we should be ‘abbreviating’ Southall to All, rather than Hall. It wasn’t, as we assumed, a colloquial drop of an H, but rather a deliberate use of a word from the town motto. As Secretary Dave explained:

‘We are called 'The "All' not 'Hall' -our name comes from the Southall Motto of 'For all' which is from the Latin Omnibus, meaning the same.’

Proof positive that every day is an education! Good luck to both sides.

Ashford Town v Chertsey Town is a big match for both sides, if for entirely different reasons. The Tangerines have slipped to within two points of the drop zone, a run of five consecutive defeats and one win in ten the cause. The Curfews have similarly lost their way at the other end of the table, a run of two wins from ten- and six without a win- seeing them drop to sixth place. The last time the two sides met, Chertsey triumphed by six goals to one- there may never be a better time for Tangerine revenge.

South Park Reigate take on Westfield as tenth entertains ninth. Field are five points behind the fifth place Villains, the Sparks a further two points back, and if either still harbour play off ambitions three points is surely a must. The Sparks have only two wins from ten, Field only three, so neither are in any way consistent at present.

Leatherhead striker Dave Tarpey reinforced his side’s promotion ambitions to the local press in midweek, but the Tanners are eight points away from the top five with seven matches to play. They’ll look to narrow that gap against Merstham tomorrow, but may have a fight on their hands as the Moatsiders know that another win could lift them out of the bottom three. Seven unbeaten matches has given the visitors real hope of avoiding the drop, whilst the Tanners have won two of their last three.

Guernsey play host to Chipstead, the Green Lions, three points clear of the bottom four, looking to close the gap on their visitors to three points. Guernsey have only one defeat from six, whilst the Chips have won two of their last three and defeated South Park Reigate in midweek.

Finally, Tooting & Mitcham United welcome Sutton Common Rovers in a clash of the bottom two. The hosts are bottom of the table, thirteen points from safety, and have seven matches left to avoid leaving our ranks for the first time since 1956. Rovers are six points better off, second from bottom, seven points from safety- but they have only lost one of their last seven matches, so are doing all they can to stay up.

The Terrors come into this one having lost their last four matches.

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