GW 6 – Ones to Watch
Matt: More than happy with last weekend’s 11 goal return from our tips, especially after tipping the first non-scorers of the season the previous week! GW 6 is going to be a lively affair as it brings with it our first ‘International Week’ of the season, with our old friends from the National Leagues North & South making a welcome appearance. Those of you who have played before will be aware of the fun & games these weekends often conjure up, but if you’re new to the game then prepare yourself! Bizarre results are a specialty of these particular gameweeks!
Now with these two leagues rarely being available, the temptation is there to dive head first into them – in terms of both your selections and for us in this section……..so that’s exactly what i’m going to do! My opening pick comes from the NL South, where high flying Wealdstone are in action against Oxford City at Grosvenor Vale. The Royals from Ruislip have been in outstanding form so far this campaign, recording wins in eight of their nine league matches and, more importantly (for this game anyway!), banging in 24 goals in the process. Those kind of stats are hard to ignore and their rise to the summit of the league table has even put a smile on the face of the Wealdstone Raider himself! Opponents Oxford are quite ‘hit and miss’ with regards to their results, with one win, one draw and one defeat in their past three games a good indication of just that. The Hoops did manage a clean sheet last time out, at home to Weymouth, but it was their first of the season and i’m convinced (or should that be hoping?!!) Wealdstone will not be in any mood to let them repeat that act.
There’s also a few fixtures in the NL North that interest me and i’m all for fairness too, so i’ll head there for my second tip. The team i’m backing here is Boston United, who take on a struggling Bradford Park Avenue side that has managed just one clean sheet on the road since way back in mid-March – although i do have to point out that it came in their most recent away match at Darlington, so perhaps this is a slightly more dubious pick than it might otherwise have been! Strangely enough, the last time Boston failed to score at home was against the very same team, Darlington, but that was also last season – no such worries thus far in this campaign. Their most recent outing at home ground York Street yielded a 5-0 victory against Altrincham, so i’m backing them to be firing on all cylinders again on Saturday, especially as Bradford PA are heading there fresh from two home defeats in the space of four days. Those two losses also included the ball finding the back of their net no less than SIX times, so The Pilgrims of Boston must be fancying their chances of adding to their visitor’s misery. Good luck to you all.
Ally: These International weeks usually throw up a surprise or two, and I’m hoping to avoid any potential banana skins with my tips for this forthcoming weekend.
First up, I’m also going for The Pilgrims, but in this case it’s the team from English League Two. Most people of course know them as Plymouth Argyle, and they have a home game against Oldham Athletic. Plymouth were relegated at the end of last season, and were installed as one of the favourites to secure promotion in pre-season. They’ve started the season well, currently occupying a play-off spot and are showing signs of turning Home Park into a fortress again, having scored in all 6 league and cup fixtures there this season, and gave Championship outfit Reading a real run for their money before succombing to two late goals in a creditable 4-2 reverse. Visitors Oldham meanwhile have just one win to their name so far this season, though that was in their previous away game at Cambridge, but I still fancy the hosts will have too much for the travelling Latics.
We don’t often get the chance to dip into the National League North and South, and so I’m going to try and take advantage with my second tip, which comes in the shape of Alfreton Town’s home game with Curzon Ashton. Hosts Alfreton have had a good start and find themsleves in the play off places, so far averaging over 2 goals per game in the league. Their 3 defeats have all come on the road, and they have scored in every match since their opening day 1-0 defeat at perennial play off contenders Brackley Town. They have won their last 3 league games at North Street by an aggregate score of 9-0, whereas struggling Curzon have just 3 away clean sheets in 20 attempts, so I’m backing The Reds to come out on top here. Good luck with your selections.