GW 38 – Ones to Watch
Matt: Now that the hectic Easter weekend is behind us, it’s all eyes on the sprint towards the finish line and putting together some solid scores to climb as high up the Global League as possible. And if the two quickfire gameweeks just gone were anything to go by, plenty of you have put February and March’s woes firmly behind you, with April getting off to a flier! More of the same this weekend hopefully.
My first tip sees me take a trip to the East of Scotland, where in-form Dundee take on Greenock Morton at Dens Park. Three consecutive league wins for The Dee has lifted them to third in the Scottish Championship, behind second placed Raith Rovers on goal difference only, and still holding out hope of a late charge to snatch the title and automatic promotion off long time leaders Hearts. If that outcome has any chance whatsoever of playing out, this match is an absolute must win for The Dark Blues and they’ll be in confident mood following their recent results – for all of the previously mentioned trio of wins saw Dundee score three times in the process, with Ayr Utd, Dunfermline & Alloa Athletic all dispatched. Morton arrive at their hosts fresh off the back of a 4-1 home drubbing by Inverness CT, taking their recent tally of league losses to three in the past four games. Indeed The Ton have won just twice in the Championship since mid-December, although they do boast a couple of Scottish Cup victories during that period. As things stand, they’re in the ninth place relegation play-off spot, but all eventualities in regards to staying up or going down are still viable; Morton are level on points with Arbroath and just a solitary point behind Ayr Utd, whilst behind them bottom of the table Alloa Athletic can certainly still make up the seven point deficit. Dundee haven’t been involved in a single goalless draw this whole season and I don’t expect that to change here, as the lure of Premiership football will surely be all the reason they need to go out and try to win this fixture from the off.
I don’t envisage too many of you having this next side down on your weekend shortlists, but I’m backing Maidenhead Utd to do the business in front of goal on Saturday afternoon. This pick is as much to do with the atrocious form of their opponents as anything; Barnet have lost five league games on the bounce, have taken just ONE point from their previous ELEVEN league fixtures, have lost a crushing 22 games this season and conceded a horrifying 72 goals in this campaign. The only relief for Bees players and fans is that there is no relegation from the National League this season, owing to the NLN & NLS declaring thier seasons null and void! Last weekend i took a punt on struggling Wealdstone in my own selections, purely on the basis they were facing Barnet, and they repaid that faith with a 5 goal return, so that result also has a bearing on my choice here. Maidenhead are in poor form themselves, but mathematically they are far from out of contention for a play-off berth, despite currently finding themselves down in 14th place. With games in hand on every team above them in the standings (as many as five and six in a couple of cases!), The Magpies will be only too aware that if they are to have any hope of competing in the end of season shootout for League Two, they simply have to win this match. Three defeats in succession has undermined a couple of superb victories over promotion hopefuls Torquay Utd and Chesterfield, but the fact that Utd scored 6 goals across those fixtures, and comfortably disposed of two strong opponents, gives me plenty of belief that a Barnet side seemingly bereft of any hope or expectation will be chopped down in much the same fashion at York Road on Saturday afternoon. Good luck to you all.