Match Preview

Three games to go. We are within sight of the end of the season now, and still uncertain of which National League South sides will be playing their football at Step 2 next season, or who will be dropping down to Tier 3.

Saturday's trip to Hungerford Town could help to make the relegation picture clearer, with victory very much at the top of the agenda for both sides. Victory for the Hamlet will condemn both Hungerford and Weymouth to relegation. Should we win and Concord Rangers lose, then they will be nine points behind us with three games remaining for them. Finally, a win for us means that Cheshunt will have to win their game against Bath City to keep their heads above water. Got all that?

For our hosts, anything but victory will mean they will be ending their seven year stay in the division. The Crusaders have occupied a place in the bottom four continuously since September 13th, but ended a run of five games without a win in fine style on Tuesday night as they won 3-0 away to Taunton Town, with two of those goals coming in the first five minutes.

Despite their lowly position in the table, Hungerford have been hard to score against at home this season, enjoying the joint-best home defensive record in the National League South with Dartford, conceding just 18 times in their 21 games at Bulpit Lane. However, goals have also been a struggle at times, with just 21 strikes to their name at home, with only Weymouth having netted fewer (19). They come into the fixture with us having not lost at Bulpit Lane in their last six in the division, a run which has included impressive wins over playoff chasers St Albans and Braintree, and holding second-placed Dartford to a draw.

The Hamlet have a stinker of an away record, with no victory on our travels in any of our last 11 games since winning at Welling on January 14th. With some heavy defeats along the way, it is perhaps unsurprising that we have conceded more goals on the road than any other side this season, with the 54 conceded eight more than anyone else. Our last away game saw us concede a 95th minute equaliser at Hemel Hempstead Town, a draw which was just our second point away from home since Welling.

The corresponding fixture last season saw the Crusaders emerge as 3-1 victors, their first ever home league win against the Hamlet. Matt Berry-Hargreaves put them ahead in the 4th minute, and despite Ronnie Vint levelling matters, Ryan Seager and Jake Evans put the result to bed. Earlier this season at Champion Hill, a Nana Owusu free-kick and Danny Mills header helped us to a 2-1 victory in Paul Barnes' first game as our permanent manager, Niko Muir's late penalty a consolation for the visitors.

Record v Hungerford Town: P9 W7 L2 GF26 GA11
Away: P5 W4 L1 GF16 GA5
Biggest win: 6-0 (A) Isthmian League Cup 1994-95
Biggest loss: 1-3 (A) National League South 2021-22