Will the Mackerel Men extend their lead- or can Regent spring a surprise?

Leaders Worthing are on the road to face an improving but second bottom Brightlingsea Regent. The Mackerel men still haven’t rediscovered their October/November form, but they are still five points clear at the top. Regent, like their visitors, are two games unbeaten- a big turnaround from their previous form- but this will be the supreme test of their new recruits.

Enfield Town, in second place and six points behind but with a game in hand over the leaders, travel to take on one of our most difficult to beat sides, Bognor Regis Town. The Rocks are six points off the top five but have only lost three times this season, and the gap between them and the promotion contenders is mainly down to the fact that they have drawn almost half of their matches. Both sides will be looking to get back to winning ways.

Third place Folkestone Invicta host our other draw specialists, Haringey Borough. The visitors have also drawn eight matches this season. And are without a win in their last ten (six draws and four defeats), whilst with two wins in six Invicta have also looked rather more human of late.

Cheshunt are having a fine season. The Ambers, in fourth and nine games unbeaten, host a Corinthian-Casuals side who are also having a good run, unbeaten in six. A win for the Ambers could take them as high as second, whilst a positive Casuals result could see them up to eighth.

Bishop’s Stortford, who have gone eleven league matches and more than two months unbeaten- but who have drawn their last three- are on the road to Cray Wanderers. Wands destroyed Horsham’s winning run on Wednesday night and moved up to nineteenth in the process, and although that was their first league win in eight matches that doesn’t tell the whole story, as there have been some excellent Trophy results sandwiched in amongst the bread and butter stuff.

Lewes were rather unexpectedly walloped last time out, and the Rooks are on the road to Bowers & Pitsea, who have improved enormously of late with only one defeat from their last five.

The wallopers of Lewes, Potters Bar Town, are at home once more, as they welcome managerless Leatherhead. Our bottom side, with only two wins all season and seven defeats from their last ten, travel to face a side in fine form, the Scholars with only two defeats from ten, a run which has seen them climb to thirteenth.

Kingstonian have slipped out of the top five, but only by three points, and the K’s do have as many as three matches in hand over the teams above them. They host Margate, who have slipped to twelfth place, the K’s fall due to winning only two of their last seven and the Blues decent due to picking up only two points from their last fifteen.

Carshalton Athletic are yet to find consistency this season, but they do only have two defeats from their last ten. The reason they aren’t further up the table- they start the day in eighth- is that they’ve drawn as many as they’ve won during that period. The Robins welcome Merstham to Colston Avenue, the midtable Moatsiders having suffered a bit of a blip of their own, with only one win from their last seven matches and five points from their last twenty one.

Hornchurch, in tenth, are on the road to face Wingate & Finchley- the side who removed the FA Trophy holders from the competition back in October. Unfortunately the Blues haven’t won a game since, whilst the Urchins have looked a little more like their usual selves with four wins- and two defeats- from their last six.

Horsham, who had won six in a row until the wheels came off at Cray Wanderers, welcome East Thurrock United. The Rocks have looked much improved under new management, but saw a three match unbeaten streak come to an end with defeat against Bowers last time out; whilst the Hornets will be desperate to get back to climbing the table. Fourteenth faces twentieth in this one.

Image: Marcus Hoare.

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