With five points between fifth and tenth, the battle for the Play Offs is too close to call

Leaders Hornchurch take the long trip to the West Sussex coast, where they take on Bognor Regis Town. The Urchins have a nine point lead at the top- plus three games in hand over second place Chatham Town, and a goal difference which is +29 better than the Chats- so you’d have to think that the title is theirs to lose, but with six wins in a row they aren’t showing any sign of letting things slip. The Rocks have lost only two of their last ten, but have seen their form slip a little of late and come into this one without a win in three - and with a six point gap between themselves and fifth place.

Hornchurch won their first meeting this season by four goals to one, and have won six of their last fourteen encounters, whilst the Rocks have won three, with five draws.

Second place Chatham Town welcome relegation fighters Concord Rangers to the Bauvill. The Chats have become rather inconsistent of late, with six wins and four defeats from their last ten, whilst Rangers will be desperate to get back to winning ways. They find themselves six points from safety, albeit with four games in hand, but three defeats from their last four haven’t helped their survival cause much. When the sides met in October, Town won three-one, although the match was closer than the scoreline might suggest.

Horsham have charged up the table into third place by winning most of their games in hand, and so long as fatigue doesn’t catch them up look very capable of staying there. The Hornets have only one defeat from their last ten, and have won four of their last five, and will be full of confidence as Carshalton Athletic come to call- but the Robins will be rather chipper, too, having finally brought to an end a run of four draws with victory over Chatham Town last time out. Only four points away from fifth spot, Athletic will be similarly determined to take three points, and they do have a pretty decent record against the Hornets, winning ten of the last eighteen encounters between the sides going back to 2011-12, and losing only four. One of those defeats includes their last meeting, a two-one win for the Hornets at Colston Avenue in October- a match which saw the Robins ahead until nineteen minutes from time.

Billericay Town look unrecognisable of late. The Blues have slipped down to fourth place after losing their last five, and indeed with only a three point advantage between themselves and sixth place Enfield Town- the Towners with two games in hand- look in danger of dropping out of the top five altogether. The Blues have another difficult task on the horizon as they travel to eighth place Hastings United, their hosts having not managed to play a league match since Saturday February 10th! Hastings last two league matches were such a long time ago that they’ve perhaps forgotten their two defeats, but they need three points as they’ve fallen five points behind fifth place Wingate & Finchley, and have only one game in hand.

Wingate and Finchley are on the road to Canvey Island. The Blues have lost only two of ten, but have seen the gap between themselves, in fifth, and the chasing pack diminish after three consecutive draws- and could slip out of the top five if they fail to beat the Gulls and local rivals Enfield Town are victorious, so will be desperate to get back to winning ways. Canvey find themselves in fifteenth place, fifteen points above the bottom four and thirteen points away from a top five spot, so it looks very much that unless they have a dramatic change in fortune that mid table security is their likely outcome. With three wins from ten they’ve been the height of inconsistency this season, but their home form has generally been good, and they’ll be desperate to revenge the six-two hammering they received against these opponents in October.

Enfield Town welcome Lewes, both sides taking a break from enjoying successful European runs in the Fenix Trophy. The Towners may find their own Donkey Lane a little less exotic than their midweek venue, Copenhagen, but they’d be delighted with a similar result- particularly because victory might just lift them into the top five. The Rooks are only three points further back and have play off ambitions of their own, and look to have rediscovered their mojo after two wins and a draw from their previous four matches- although they’ll still be wondering how they failed to defeat Canvey last time out, the Gulls coming from behind twice at the death to take a point. They also seem to hold something of a hoodoo over the Towners, defeating them in their previous five meetings.

Dulwich Hamlet start the weekend in ninth place, six points away from a top five spot. Hamlet are back on their own patch and expecting another rather large crowd as Whitehawk come to call, and having won five of their last six most of those fans will be expecting another home victory. The Hawks are five unbeaten but are eight points further back, albeit with two games in hand over their opponents. The sides drew one-one at the Enclosed Ground in October, a very late Imran Kayani goal earning the Hawks a share of the spoils.

Hashtag United have had a good week, walloping Billericay Town last weekend and they reaching the Velocity Cup Semi-Final on Monday. The Tags are four unbeaten in the league-although three of those were draws- and welcome Margate to the Len Salmon hoping to climb back into the top half of the table from their current twelfth spot. Gate look in dire straights, having taken four points from the last thirty available and lost seven of their last eight matches, a run which has seen them drop into the bottom four- and will be desperate for points as they try and overhaul fifth bottom Cheshunt, who are two points better off and have played a game fewer. The two sides drew one-one at Hartsdown Park in October.

Folkestone Invicta are eight points above the bottom four but won’t count themselves safe just yet. The Stripes welcome a side who would love to be in their position, Kingstonian sitting at the bottom of the pile and nine points from safety. Invicta have won only two of their last ten- although they have become draw specialists, five of the rest ending level. The K’s have taken six points from their last ten matches- six defeats- and really need three points if they are to boost their meagre survival hopes. Their form hasn’t been too bad of late, but good form without wins is not worth too much, sadly. The K’s have won the last three meetings between the clubs- how valuable would a fourth be?

We’ve a relegation battle in North London as Haringey Borough welcome Cheshunt to the more salubrious part of White Hart Lane. Borough are six points from safety- and from the Ambers- having played a game more than their opponents, and very much need a home win, rather like the one they got in their last fixture, way back on February 24th, when Margate were defeated. Cheshunt also won last time out, but that was on Tuesday night, when they convincingly defeated Concord Rangers on the road, three-nil the final score. Borough won the first encounter between the sides this season by two goals to nil, and would be delighted to do so again; whilst a home win could lift the Ambers five points clear of trouble.

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