Which seaside will celebrate on Saturday?

Fokestone Invicta and Worthing have a number of things in common. Both have played twenty three matches. Both have won fourteen of those, drawn six and lost three. Both have forty eight points. And both are at home on Saturday.

There are some differences, however. Invicta are top of the table due to a better goal difference- they’ve scored four fewer goals than the Mackerel Men, but have conceded fewer, too- only twenty one, which gives them the second best defensive record in the division, behind Hornchurch. Worthing have the best attack in the Division, having scored forty nine times- but there are nine sides with a better defensive record, amongst them, rather surprisingly, third-bottom Corinthian-Casuals and seventeenth placed Bowers and Pitsea. So what does all this mean?

Well if we could make predictions with any degree of accuracy we’d be predicting the winning lottery numbers, so in short, we’ve no idea!

Invicta, who have lost only one of their last ten matches, seem- looking at the form guide, at least- to have the more difficult task. They host Haringey Borough, but this season’s Borough are yet to recapture the form they showed in the previous campaign and have won only one of their last seven league matches. They lost to Maldon & Tiptree in the Velocity Trophy on Monday night, too. How difficult it will be for Invicta may depend on which Borough turn up, as they have a squad that should be far higher up the table and are bound to find their sweet spot at some point.

Worthing, who have twenty four points from their last thirty and were last defeated in the league as far back as October 5th- yes, more than three months ago- are at home to Merstham. The Moatsiders have only one win in ten and five points from thirty, and after showing signs of a recovery with victory over Haringey Borough and a draw with Carshalton Athletic have lost their last three matches, conceding ten goals and scoring only three.

Will we have new leaders on Saturday evening? Check back here to find out, as we should have our round up of all of the days fixtures online before the end of the day!

Third place Horsham are also at home, against Corinthian-Casuals. The Hornets last four league matches have seen them win and lose then win and lose, so they’d like that pattern to continue- whilst Casuals are in their best form of the season, taking seven points from their last nine and having defeated one of our form sides, Leatherhead, last time out.

Fourth place Hornchurch won’t be able to overhaul the Hornets this weekend no matter what, as the Urchins are in FA Trophy action. They host a mouth-watering Essex derby, as Aveley, in second place in the North Division, are the visitors. The Urchins have only one defeat in ten in the league, and overcame National League South opposition at home in the last two rounds- so they might not be too worried about facing the Millers. But perhaps they should be, as Aveley aren’t just in magnificent form in the league, but have already defeated FOUR higher division sides to get to this stage.

Carshalton Athletic can climb to fourth in the Urchins absence, but to do so they’ll have to defeat Lewes at the Dripping Pan. The Robins have only lost two of their last ten, and defeated Enfield Town last time out, whilst the Rooks were successful at Haringey Borough last weekend but will hope to change the pattern of their recent form, as their last four games have shown loss-win-loss-win. That said, if they include their midweek Velocity Trophy defeat at Bracknell Town in that list perhaps they’ll be ready to win this one!

Cray Wanderers, in sixth, travel to Bowers & Pitsea. Bowers have turned their form around of late, losing only one of their last six and taking some notable scalps along the way, including Folkestone Invicta and Enfield Town. The Wands went through a period where they lost their way a little, losing three out of four, but have looked more like their old selves recently with a win over Margate and a draw with Wingate & Finchley.

Enfield Town got over the disappointment- although in truth they are both delighted and disappointed at the same time- of losing Muhammadu Faal to Bolton Wanderers by putting five goals past Staines Town in the Velocity Trophy in midweek. The Towners looked to have got their form back on track after a lean period by defeating Haringey Borough and Potters Bar Town, but then fell to defeat against Carshalton Athletic last time out- so they’ll want to get back on track, prove conclusively that there is life after Mo, and get back into the top five by defeating Brightlingsea Regent at home. Regent have only five points from their last thirty, but showed real spirit in drawing with the league leaders last time out so should not be underestimated.

Leatherhead and Bognor Regis Town both had days to forget last Saturday, but the Tanners bounced back to win at Wingate & Finchley in midweek. They host the Rocks on Saturday after only two defeats in ten matches, whilst the Rocks have suffered a recent blip, winning only one of their last four after a fine unbeaten run came to an end.

East Thurrock United, in ninth, travel to face twelfth place Margate. The Essex Rocks have been in reasonable form, losing only three of their last ten and defeating Bowers and Pitsea then drawing with Worthing in their last two, whilst you never seem to know which Margate is going to turn up, but supporters of the home side at Hartsdown Park will hope it’s the Margate that defeated Bognor and Horsham rather than the Margate who lost to Folkestone Invicta and Cray Wanderers.

It’s eleventh v fifteenth as Potters Bar Town host Bishop’s Stortford. The Scholars got back to winning ways against Merstham last time out, whilst the visiting Blues have three wins, two draws and two defeats from their last seven but have player/boss Jamie Cureton in fine form, the veteran striker having scored in their last five league matches- and indeed in seven of their last eight.

Kingstonian, in fifteenth, are another side in FA Trophy action. The K’s suffered the blow of losing striker Louis Theophanous to Romford last weekend, but will need to put the furore around that move behind them as they take on Leamington. Their visitors are in fifteenth place in National League North, where they have lost their last two matches, but they were in good form prior to that. The K’s lost at Cheshunt in the League last Saturday, but prior to that were going brilliantly and- of course, outplayed and defeated Woking, who were in fourth place in the National League, in the last round.

Finally, we have a big battle at the bottom end of the table, as bottom side Wingate & Finchley entertain Cheshunt. The Ambers were impressive in defeating Kingstonian last weekend, whilst the hosts have shown improved form in recent weeks without really improving their points tally all that much, and haven’t won a league match since November 9th.