County return to Edgeley Park tomorrow night with another huge game in the National League against play-off chasing Eastleigh, as we look to build on that point at leaders Sutton and make it four games unbeaten.
James Jennings stoppage time header at Gander Green Lane on Saturday secured a vital point against the in-form table-toppers, and moved us above Wrexham and up into to fourth.
Wins for Torquay and Hartlepool, against King’s Lynn and Woking respectively, meant the gap to the top three did widen slightly over the weekend, and we now sit four points shy of the third place Gulls.
Eastleigh meanwhile picked up a much needed win at the weekend, as Tyrone Barnett’s second-half goal earned them victory over FC Halifax Town at Silverlake Stadium to move them up to ninth, back within touch of the play-offs.
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Since we last met:
Little over a month has passed since we last faced off against the Spitfires, a controversial 1-0 defeat at Silverlake Stadium that saw us reduced to 10 men in the first half with a red card for Harvey Gilmour that was later overturned, before eventually losing out to a second-half Joe Tomlinson penalty.
That result actually lifted Eastleigh above County and into fourth in the league table off the back of a seven game unbeaten run, sitting one point above us as we dropped down into sixth.
The Spitfires’ form has been in something of a tailspin ever since, however, as they failed to win any of their next five games, with only Saturday’s victory against Halifax ending that barren run.
Defeats to Chesterfield and Bromley have seen them slip out of the play-off places altogether, and although they did manage to claim draws against high-flying Wrexham and Hartlepool United, they faced 10 men in the majority of the second half in both of those games.
The Hampshire side have struggled on the road in recent months however, with just one win on their travels in their last eight games – a 3-1 victory at Boreham Wood at the end of January.
A bonus for them has been the return to form of former County man Abdulai Bell-Baggie. After a spell out of the first team, the Sierra Leone international has forced his way back into contention in recent weeks, and put in a Man of the Match display for them on Saturday.
With just four points separating the two sides going into this one, this is a huge game in both sides’ season as we look to open up a gap on the chasing pack, and keep in touch at the top of the table in the process.
Match Stats:
- The two sides have met just twice previously, with both teams winning once. We won 2-0 at Edgeley Park last season thanks to goals from Adam Thomas and Elliot Osborne, but lost 1-0 at Silverlake earlier this season.
- After failing to score in his first 12 appearances for the Club, James Jennings now has two goals in his last five games.
- County have scored from a corner in each of their last two games, having failed to do so in 15 previous games in 2021 – with Tom Walker grabbing the assists for both.
- Lois Maynard is now away on international duty, and so will not be available for this game.
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