Fresh off the back of Tuesday night’s thumping of King’s Lynn on Tuesday night, County are at Edgeley Park again this weekend as we look to continue our late title surge against Maidenhead United.
That 4-0 victory under the floodlights in SK3, coupled with results elsewhere, saw us close the gap on leaders Hartlepool United to just six points with two games in hand, whilst the gap to both Sutton and Torquay in 2nd and third is now five points.
Defeat for Notts County at Solihull Moors, coupled with Chesterfield dropping points at home to draw specialists Boreham Wood, meant we also further strengthened our grip on fourth place, holding a six point advantage with both those teams as well as a superior goal difference – although we have played twice more than both those sides.
With Torquay not in action this weekend, a win would see us close the gap on the top three to just two points.
For opponents Maidenhead, Tuesday night saw them manage to halt a three-game losing streak, although they were still left frustrated after having to settle for a goalless draw with bottom side Barnet at York Road.
Since we last met:
Our trip to York Road back in February ended in disappointment for County, as we were held to a second successive 0-0 draw by a resolute and well-drilled Maidenhead side, harbouring play-off ambitions of their own at the time.
Those dropped points saw us miss the chance to move up to 2nd, again remaining rooted in 4th place with an eight point gap between ourselves and then league leaders Torquay.
Maidenhead meanwhile moved up to ninth place, five points behind County with two games in hand and within touching distance of the play-off places after a strong start to the campaign, rebutting their pre-season status as relegation candidates.
Despite again showing their battling qualities in their next game by coming from 2-0 down to snatch a stoppage-time equaliser at Bromley, results have since tailed off for Alan Devonshire’s side, who have now won just twice in their last 12 games to sink into the bottom-half of the table.
With that run including five defeats in their last nine, any hopes of an unlikely play-off tilt have died down, although the fact those two victories came against an in-form Chesterfield and a 4-1 thrashing of Torquay suggest they are capable of giving anyone a game on their day.
A season constantly disrupted by Covid has meant that the Magpies have played the fewest games in the division with an incredible 13 games still to play in the final few weeks of the season. Victory in those games could still see the Berkshire side move back into the top half of the table, which would be a great achievement for a side who only survived last season by virtue of 0.002 points per game.
They come with plenty of firepower too in the shape of winger Sam Barratt and forward Danilo Orsi, who have both chipped in with 10 goals in the National League this season – equating for just under 50% of their total goals this season.
Experienced striker Nathan Blissett has also had a big impact in recent weeks, with the former Macclesfield Town man finding the net four times in his last eight games.
Match Stats:
- The two sides have met five times previously, with County winning two and losing one – with that single defeat coming at Edgeley Park on the opening day of last season.
- Another clean-sheet on Tuesday night means County now have the best defensive record in the National League with just 26 goals conceded in 33 games this season. We have now kept a clean-sheet in seven of our last nine games at Edgeley Park.
The Match Sponsor for tomorrow’s game will be The Seashell Chip Shop in Stockport. We’d like to thank them for their fantastic support.
In association with LV Bet.
