GW 41 – Ones to Watch

Matt: It looks like we had a highly profitable Easter weekend for some, for others not so much! The handful of players who recorded back-to-back tons really did cash in, but it wasn’t plain sailing for most – not helped in the slightest by one of the most popular picks across the two gameweeks, Tottenham Hotspur, going all ‘Spursy’ on us by suddenly deciding they didn’t fancy continuing their excellent recent goalscoring record……a 1-0 loss at home to Brighton & Hove Albion was not what the vast majority of entrants in GW 39 were anticipating! Our traditional ‘Easter Monday Bonus’ also threw up one or two upsets, but once again it did provide plenty of goals and the opportunity to visit Club 100 was taken up by some grateful customers! With just five gameweeks left, it really is make or break time if you’re planning an assault on the title/the top ten/the top half…..delete as appropriate! Next up we have GW 41…..

• Cove Rangers v Dumbarton. There’s still work to be done for Cove if they want to secure the Scottish League One title and take another huge step in this incredible journey they’ve been on over the past few years! Paul Hartley, who many of you will recall from his playing days, has done a sensational job in guiding The Toonsers to the verge of promotion and another Championship, but Cove aren’t quite there yet………a win here, however, and the champagne corks might start popping! The omens look good for the Aberdeenshire club too, incredibly they are unbeaten in League One since the 16th of October last year! With their previous four home matches yielding a maximum 12 points, not to mention a tasty 14 goals thrown into the mix, this really does look like another regulation ‘homer’. Goals are what matters for us though and if Dumbarton’s recent away record is anything to gauge this fixture on, we should be in for plenty of them; a quick snapshot of The Sons’ results on the road over the past couple of months show a 3-2 loss at Airdrieonians, a 3-2 victory at Alloa Athletic, a 4-3 defeat at Peterhead, a 3-1 win at Clyde and a 6-2 mauling at Falkirk! Talk about goals galore!! Let’s hope for more of the same here.
• Dagenham & Redbridge v King’s Lynn Town. I’m a big advocate of National League sides in this game and recently they’ve been showcasing exactly the reason why I frequently put my faith in them…..not least Dagenham, who are doing their utmost to get themselves into the play-off zone but, more importantly for players of TUG, banging goals in for fun along the way! Solid 2-0 successes at Bromley and Aldershot recently, came either side of a whopping 7-3 massacre of Barnet at Victoria Road and The Daggers are back on their own patch this weekend, hoping to replicate that scoreline against King’s Lynn no doubt! It’s a must win game that’s for certain, dropped points here and their play-off hopes will be all but dead in the water, so I’m expecting Daryl McMahon’s lads to be on the front foot from the first whistle – especially as their opponents aren’t exactly tight at the back! Town have already conceded a hefty 73 goals in this campaign, with their previous away match ending in a heavy 4-1 loss at Dagenham’s fellow play-off hopefuls Notts County. I’m sure a similar scoreline here would be well received by those of you who take a punt on The Daggers this weekend. Good luck to you all.