Match Preview

Our first of four games over a busy Christmas period sees us make the long trip to Didcot Town on Saturday.

Didcot Town vs Bideford
Evo-Stik League South – West Division
Saturday 23rd December 2017
3:00pm kick off
Loop Meadow, Didcot

A Brief History of Didcot Town FC
Didcot Town were originally founded in 1907 and played in the North Berkshire League, Reading League and Metropolitan League until becoming founder members of the Hellenic League in 1953. Didcot were crowned the first Hellenic League champions in 1953/54. They dropped out of the Premier Division three times over the next 50 years but each time returned relatively quickly. In 2004/05 Didcot won the FA Vase defeating AFC Sudbury 3-2 in the final at White Hart Lane. They followed this major honour up by winning a second Hellenic League title in 2005/06 and gained promotion to the Southern League Division One South & West. In 2008/09 Didcot were promoted to the Southern League Premier Division after winning the play-offs and spent two seasons at that level before being relegated back to Division One in 2010/11. The next five seasons saw them finish 16th, 17th, 12th, 7th, and 10th back in South & West. Didcot reached the first round proper of the FA Cup in 2015/16 and were drawn at home to Exeter City. The game was shown live on BT Sport with 2,707 in attendance at Loop Meadow. The Grecians ran out 3-0 winners but it was a very profitable day for the Oxfordshire club. Last season Didcot finished in 12th position in Division One South & West.

Didcot Town FC
Loop Meadow Stadium
Bowmont Water
Ladygrove
Didcot
Oxfordshire
OX11 7GA
Tel: 01235 813138
Website: http://www.didcottownfc.co.uk
Twitter: @didcottownfc

Form Guide
Bideford and Didcot have had similar seasons so far in 2017/18. Didcot are currently 9th (W10 D3 L7) and have 33 points while Bideford are 7th (W10 D3 L5) also on 33 points having played two games less. Both sides have suffered only one loss in their last six games. Didcot somewhat surprisingly went down 2-0 at struggling Mangotsfield but bounced back with an excellent win at promotion chasing Wimborne last week. Bideford come into this game off the back of two disappointing home results, particularly last week’s lacklustre 2-1 defeat at the hands of Yate Town. Didcot have a decent home record in the league (W6 D1 L2) beating Slimbridge 4-0 last time out at Loop Meadow, while Bideford have a good away record in the league (W5 D1 L1) beating Winchester 3-2 last time on the road.

Didcot Town’s last six (DWDWLW)
16/12/17 Wimborne Town 0 Didcot Town 1 (League)
09/12/17 Mangotsfield Town 2 Didcot Town 0 (League)
02/12/17 Didcot Town 4 Slimbridge 0 (League)
25/11/17 Paulton Rovers 2 Didcot Town 2 (League)
18/11/17 Didcot Town 4 Barnstaple Town 2 (League)
11/11/17 Bristol Manor Farm 3 Didcot Town 3 (League)

Bideford's last six (WWWWDL)
16/12/17 Bideford 1 Yate Town 2 (League)
09/12/17 Bideford 2 Shortwood United 2 (League)
05/12/17 Bideford 5 Stoke Gabriel 0 (St Luke’s Bowl R1)
25/11/17 Winchester City 2 Bideford 3 (League)
18/11/17 Bideford 4 Larkhall Athletic 1 (League)
14/11/17 Paulton Rovers 1 Bideford 3 (League)

Recent meetings:
12/08/17 Bideford 1 Didcot Town 0 (Southern Div 1 West)
28/01/17 Bideford 2 Didcot Town 2 (Southern Div 1 S&W)
24/09/16 Didcot Town 4 Bideford 2 (Southern Div 1 S&W)
04/11/14 Didcot Town 2 Bideford 1 (FA Trophy Q1 replay)
01/11/16 Bideford 3 Didcot Town 3 (FA Trophy Q1)
17/03/12 Bideford 2 Didcot Town 1 (Southern Div 1 S&W)
19/11/11 Didcot Town 1 Bideford 1 (Southern Div 1 S&W)

On the first day of the season Bideford edged out Didcot 1-0 in a closely fought contest with Billy Tucker’s penalty giving The Robins the win. Last season Didcot took four points from Bideford with a 4-2 win at Loop Meadow followed by a 2-2 draw at the Sports Ground earlier this year.