Football – England – Blue Square Premier
Friday 9th November 2012 – Kickoff: 1945hrs
The Impact Arena in Derbyshire is my next venue in search of further fortunes when hosts Alfreton Town take on Blue Square Premier leaders Newport County in Friday night’s lone fixture.
Alfreton find themselves just one point above the relegation places following a run of four matches without a win recently which includes defeats against Grimsby Town and Gateshead along with draws against Ebbsfleet United and AFC Telford United. In fact, just one win on home soil so far this season but that was against a Luton Town side who are heavily tipped for automatic promotion this time around, beating them by 3 goals to nil no less!
Alfreton’s home record then stands at 1-4-3 9/14, and as you can see, scoring goals at home has been a bit of a problem; having said that though, Daniel Bradley (5 goals) and Ben Tomlinson (3 goals) lead the way but both did not figure in Alfreton’s midweek loss at Gateshead. They still have striker Paul Clayton (4 goals) and Nathan Arnold (5 assists) though, so tread carefully.
Leaders of the BSP, Newport County, make the trip up north on the back of a crushing 6-2 win over Cambridge United in midweek, and the Welsh outfit still remain top of the BSP withjust one loss in their last ten matches (2-3 at home to Woking a couple of weeks ago).
Justin Edinburgh has done a fantastic job so far in guiding his team to the summit of the division which is the non-league version of the Championship with so many teams realistically competing for promotion and there are plenty of upsets.
Newport County have also been solid away from home too with wins over Barrow, Telford United and Tamworth in recent weeks along with taking a point at Macclesfield Town, in fact they’ve lost just twice on the road so far which was at 5th placed Dartford and 2nd placed Wrexham. The Exiles’ away record stands at 5-1-2 17/12 and they stand every chance of getting something from this fixture too.
Leading scorer is Aaron O’Connor (12 goals in 17 matches) and he’s scored 7 goals in his last 10 matches including a brace against Cambridge United, and he’s now scored in double figures three out of four seasons. Backing him up are defender Ismail Yakubu (5 goals) and Andrew Sandell (4 goals, 3 assists) while the bulk of the creativity has been supplied by Jake Thompson (6 assists) and Danny Crow (2 goals, 5 assists).
Although Alfreton occupy a lower half position in the league they are still a dangerous customer so with that in mind I recommend backing an in-form Newport County side with the round ball for insurance. County could win this one though perhaps 2-1.
Pick: Newport County AH0 (Draw No Bet) @ 1.71 Pinnacle is worth considering
