Football – England – Skrill Premier
Saturday 22nd March 2014 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
It’s another quick delve into the Skrill Premier once again and first up is a clash between two mid-table teams as hosts Gateshead take on Lincoln City at the Gateshead International Stadium with both teams still in the hunt to claim a play-off place.
First, a look at Gateshead’s recent fortunes, and the Tyneside club are just two points adrift of 5th placed Kidderminster in a congested top half (an indeed bottom half) of the Skrill Premier with even 17th placed Wrexham still feasibly in with a chance of a top five finish! Gateshead have been in steady form of late having lost just once in their last five and just twice in their last fifteen matches which places them on the threshold of breaking into the play-off pack.
The only thing that has held Gateshead back from a really serious tilt is the number of draws they’ve been involved in the past few months; a total of 9 in the 15 matches I referred to have ended up in stalemates (7 of them score-draws by the way), and their overall home record stands at 8-6-4 29/21. In addition they’ve failed to score just four times and have kept five clean sheets to date.
Lincoln City have also been in good form of late and perhaps a little more incisive too as they’ve won five of their last eight with just one defeat (1-2 loss at home to Welling United) but have registered league wins over Hyde (away), Kidderminster, Aldershot Town (away) and Braintree Town (doing the double over Alan Devonshire’s men in the space of just three days!)
The Imps have also been impressive on the road too with points taken off Grimsby Town at Blundell park in a 1-1 draw and 3rd placed Alfreton Town again in another 1-1 draw, while their overall away record stands at 5-6-8 26/36 with just three clean sheets to their name.
Potential anytime goalscorers for both sides are Marwood (9 goals), Larkin and Maddison 96 goals apiece) for Gateshead and Tomlinson (16 goals), Miller and Nolan for Lincoln City.
In short, I reckon both sides will press for a result here this afternoon and thus both stand a good chance of hitting the back of the net; could be another 1-1 draw folks.
Pick: Both teams to score – yes @ 1.73 bet365
