Will the weather win again- and can Worthing extend their lead?

There has been a meme doing the rounds of social media which shows Prince Charles standing in front of a weather map whilst pointing out that “it has been raining for longer than my mother.” His Royal Highness isn’t wrong, is he? Hopefully we will eventually have a Saturday when all of our scheduled football is played. Will it be this Saturday? Well it’s forecast to rain again on Friday, and then we have the arrival of Storm Jorge on Saturday, so let’s not be making any wagers, eh?

We do have some fabulous football to look forward to this weekend in the Premier Division. We’ll start at the top, where Worthing did the unthinkable and lost two matches in a row, but then took four points from the next two whilst their closest rivals started losing too, so their dip in form made little difference. They head into this weekend with a six point lead, and we expect that their match will go ahead as they prove that, whatever you might think, plastic really is fantastic when the weather continually laughs at you.
The Mackerel Men entertain Potters Bar Town. Apart from a crushing defeat against Carshalton Athletic the Scholars have been in decent form of late, that being their only defeat in their last four- a run which has seen them defeat third place Hornchurch and, most recently, Corinthian-Casuals.

Second place Invicta, who still have a game in hand over Worthing which could reduce that six point gap to three, travel to face Cheshunt. Invicta are in a sticky patch of their own at the moment, with one win and two defeats from their last three- although that win was over Worthing. The Ambers have only one win in seven, that crushing six-one victory in Lewes a fortnight ago, and are the first of four clubs from eighteenth to twenty first who each have twenty four points. A win over Invicta could give them some breathing space.

Hornchurch entertain Haringey Borough on Bridge Avenue. The Urchins have lost only two of their last ten, and only the fact that they’ve drawn four of them has prevented them putting more pressure on the leaders, who hold a nine point gap. They face Haringey Borough, who ended a five match winless run with victory over Bognor Regis Town last time out. Borough will need to watch Urchins striker Chris Dickson carefully, as he has twenty four goals so far this season, whilst possible strike partner Jamie Cureton has twenty- and will need no reminding that the Urchins remain unbeaten at home.

Cray Wanderers are our form side. Unbeaten in this decade they haven’t lost a league match since Boxing Day, and have taken twenty four points from their last thirty. Wands are playing on SUNDAY, when their visitors will be Merstham. The Moatsiders saw a five match unbeaten run come to an end as they were walloped by Enfield Town last time out, and perhaps couldn’t have picked a worse side to try and get back to winning ways against.

We’ve a titanic battle at Colston Avenue as fifth place Carshalton Athletic entertain sixth place Horsham. Two points separate the sides, and a win for the Hornets would see them replace the Robins in the top five, but will be far from easy. Athletic have slipped up a little of late, with only one point from their last two matches, whilst Horsham have won their last two and seem to be well on their way to recapturing their form from earlier in the season.

Enfield Town enjoyed their last match against a side from Surrey, walloping Merstham four-one, and welcome another to Donkey Lane as they entertain Kingstonian. The K’s are remarkably difficult to defeat- indeed they haven’t lost a league match since January 4th- which means they are unbeaten in ten; but they would be much further up the table if they hadn’t drawn quite so many games. Hayden Bird’s men have taken one point from fourteen of their twenty nine matches, and they got to ninety minutes level against Corinthian-Casuals in midweek before two goals in added time gave them three points. The Towners, however, have drawn only one of their last ten, winning six and losing three of the others.

Bognor Regis Town got back to winning ways after two defeats by beating Lewes at the Dripping Pan in midweek- although that doesn’t put them in a very exclusive club, unfortunately for Rooks fans. Their coach Robbie Blake was scathing about their performance in that victory, and they’ll have to be better as a resurgent Bowers and Pitsea arrive at Nyewood Lane this weekend. Bowers are on a five game unbeaten run and scored ten goals in their last two matches, so won’t be short on confidence.

East Thurrock United, who start the weekend in ninth place, travel to Brightlingsea Regent- another club who won at Lewes during the last seven days. That was Regent’s first win in six, and our second-bottom club badly need another. The Rocks have lost three of their last four but won’t want to oblige their hosts if they are to retain any hopes of crashing into the playoff picture.

Leatherhead host Margate hoping firstly that Fetcham Grove isn’t under water and secondly that they can get back to the form that had seen them go five matches unbeaten before they came down to earth with a splash at Bowers last time out. Gate are four games unbeaten, however they have drawn all of them, and have gone six games without a victory.

We have a really important match at the bottom end of the table, as Wingate and Finchley, who have hauled themselves out of the bottom three, host Lewes, who have a chance of ending up in that relegation zone if they lose again. The hosting Blues won at Folkestone Invicta last time out and are unbeaten in five matches during which they’ve taken eleven points, whilst the Rooks have lost eight of their last nine- although they have emerged undefeated from fifty percent of their away matches, so will probably be glad to be on the road once more.

Corinthian-Casuals have slumped to the bottom once more after two consecutive three-one defeats- but they do have one, two or three games in hand over the sides above them, each of whom are only two points clear. They host a Bishop’s Stortford side who have been in freefall, taking only three points from their last thirty- three draws- and who have lost their last five matches. A win for Casuals could take them to within three points of their sixteenth place visitors.

Image from Stuart Fuller shows Carshalton Athletic when it wasn't raining.