Trawler Boys or Seasiders- just who will be our five o’clock heroes?

Leaders Lowestoft Town take a two point lead on the road to Brightlingsea Regent, and will hope they’ve put their little blip behind them. The Trawler Boys were impressive in their demolition of Wroxham last weekend, whilst a last minute goal ended Regent’s long winless run last time out against New Salamis. The sides last met in January, Town triumphing by two goals to one.

Second place Felixstowe and Walton United host our match of the day, fourth place Brentwood Town the visitors. The Seasiders are unbeaten in 2024, but after a goalless draw against Heybridge Swifts last time out will be determined to get back to winning ways and- at the very least- keep pace with the leaders. The visiting Blues are also in fine form, with only one defeat from their last ten, and will undoubtedly prove tough opponents as they try to further secure their play off spot- and, at the very least, maintain their eight point lead over sixth place Basildon United.

Brentwood haven’t defeated the Seasiders in their last nine attempts.

Third place Bury Town are back at Ram Meadow, New Salamis making the trip to Suffolk. Bury have been properly superb of late, and bring an eight match winning streak into this match- and a sixteen match unbeaten run; whilst the Salamina have lost their last two, and sit in fourteenth place, a comfortable twenty three points above the drop zone but twenty four away from the play offs. They’ll be looking for revenge, as Town did a demolition job on them in January, winning five-nil at Coles Park.

Fifth place Bowers and Pitsea are on the road to Witham Town. The consistency of our top five is perhaps exemplified by the fact that they are also the top five in our ten match form table, and Bowers sit fifth in that ranking too, with only one defeat from ten. Their hosts have won four and lost five of their last ten, but until defeat against Bury last time out had won three in a row and looked rather impressive- so they’ll hope to slow down Bowers play off charge and perhaps lift themselves into the top ten.

Bowers have been victorious the last five times the sides have met.

Heybridge Swifts will climb to sixth if they can win at Enfield, as the current sixth place side, Basildon United, get the weekend off due to our current odd number of teams. Swifts have been rather inconsistent during 2024, but are two unbeaten- and those results came against the top two, which will have given them a real boost. Enfield are one place- albeit thirteen points- above the drop zone, and have lost their last six. The first meeting of the season between the sides ended in a one-one draw.

Walthamstow had won three in a row before Redbridge put a stop to all that and left with three points last weekend, and the East Londoners will want to get back to winning ways as they travel to Wroxham. Victory could take them up to sixth, and they start the weekend seven points away from a play off place. Their hosts are five places and fourteen points further back, the Yachtsmen looking to bounce back from a hammering at the hands of Lowestoft Town last weekend. They had won their previous two, however, and will want some revenge for a two-nil defeat at Wadham Lodge last month.

Maldon and Tiptree welcome Ipswich Wanderers. The Jammers have slipped to ten points away from a play off spot and surely need three points if they are to give themselves any chance of bridging that gap, but that will need a change in fortunes after four consecutive defeats. Wanderers have only two wins from ten, and have lost three of their last four- it’s a shame they can’t play Lowestoft Town every week, they’ve defeated them twice! The Jammers won two-one in their previous fixture on January 6th.

Gorleston are on the road to Stowmarket Town. The Greens progressed to the Norfolk Cup semi-Final with a midweek victory- they are the holders- and also got back to winning ways in the league at Ipswich Wanderers last weekend, so will hope to keep that run going and perhaps climb into the top ten. Stow are thirteen points from safety and without a win all season, and have eleven matches to save their season- if ever they’ve needed a win, it’s now!

Grays Athletic and Redbridge meet in Tilbury. Athletic have lost their last four and won two of their last ten, whilst the Motormen also have two wins from ten, but their last victory was more recent, as it arrived last Saturday at Walthamstow. There are six points between the sides- in the visitors favour- and the two sides are due to meet again on March 26th, so if there’s a loser in this one they’ll soon have the chance of revenge.

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