County are London-bound on the National League road tonight, as we make the journey down to Grosvenor Vale for the first ever meeting between ourselves and Wealdstone FC.
Back-to-back victories against FC Halifax and Dover at Edgeley Park have seen County rocket into the play-off places, currently sitting sixth in the early League table, with that opening day defeat at Torquay United now a distant memory.
It was an anticlimactic opening to the new season for National League South champions Wealdstone, with their opening day game at home to Chesterfield postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.
Since then, the Stones have picked up an impressive point away at Yeovil in a 2-2 draw at Huish Park, before falling to a 1-0 defeat at Dagenham & Redbridge live on BT Sport on Saturday evening – leaving them 18th in the current league standings.
Our Opponents
Wealdstone are back in the top division of non-league football for the first time since relegation from the Alliance Premier League in 1988, after being awarded the National League South title last season on points-per-game.
That relegation in 1998 was the beginning of a dismal spell for the North Londoners, as in the space of just seven years the Stones sank as low as the Isthmian League Division Three – the tenth tier of English football.
It’s been a slow but steady road back for them since then, with promotion to the National League South achieved in 2014 as Isthmian Premier League Champions. After several mid-table finishes in their first few years back at that level, a seventh-place finish and a spot in the play-offs in 2018/19 showed promising signs of progress.
In their first season under former Billericay and Kingstonian manager Dean Brennan, Wealdstone came flying out of the traps at the start of last season, with 13 wins from their opening 15 League games seeing them storm to the top of the table.
It was an extraordinary goalscoring season for the side, who were the top scorers across the three National League divisions, scoring a total of 69 goals in just 33 games – seven of which came in one incredible game, with Bath City swept aside 7-0 at Grosvenor Vale back in January.
Despite a late wobble, with just one win from their final four games, they sat three points clear of Havant & Waterloovile with a game in hand when the season was brought to a premature end in March, subsequently being awarded the title and bringing to an end their six year spell in the sixth tier.
Transfer Activity
In similar fashion to County following our own promotion in 2018/19, Wealdstone have kept together the core of the squad that earned them promotion last season, although former Chelsea youngster Billy Clifford was a notable departee, the midfielder joining title rivals Havant on a free transfer.
Having retained the loan services of Luton Town goalkeeper Harry Isted, The Stones turned to strengthening their midfield, adding Zimbabwean Kundai Benyu following his release from Celtic in the Summer, as well as bringing defensive midfielder Alex Dyer back to the Club.
Dyer first left Wealdstone for Welling in 2013, before going on to enjoy spells in Sweden, Norway and most recently Kuwait before agreeing to return to the Vale.
Despite scoring so many goals last season, their top scorer Ross Lafayette. Notched just 12 league goals last campaign, and so striker Jorome Slew has been brought in from Maldon & Tiptree to bolster their attacking ranks.
The dangerman for the hosts could well be the lively Moses Emmanuel – signed from Welling in January, the experienced forward scored Wealdstone’s first goal back in the National League in that draw away at Yeovil.
Match Stats
- Wealdstone had the best home record in the National League South last season, dropping just six points from 17 games at Grosvenor Vale all season. County, meanwhile, had the fourth best away record in the National League last term.
- A draw or a win on Tuesday would represent County’s best start to a National League season after four games, having already picked up four points more than we had at this stage last season.
To hear manager Jim Gannon’s thoughts ahead of the game, click here.
