Football – England – Blue Square Premier
Saturday 5th January 2013 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
It’s down to the Blue Square Premier now as I look at a basement battle between hosts AFC Telford and Southport who clash at the New Bucks Head ground on Saturday afternoon.
Telford have endured a torrid time of it in recent weeks as they’ve failed to win in their last ten league matches, and in fact it’s just two wins in their last eighteen matches and with this kind of form behind them it’s no surprise they find themselves on the edge of the relegation places, just above Braintree Town courtesy of a better goal difference.
Telford’s home record then stands at 2-5-5 16/20 and their two wins have come against Braintree Town and Woking. Defeats against Grimsby Town, Kidderminster and Wrexham along with draws against Ebbsfleet United and Barrow have resulted in the Shropshire outfit remaining in the bottom half of the division and they now face a Southport side who have lost just once in their last five away matches.
Southport make the trip down to the midlands on the back of a useful point at Macclesfield Town where they sneaked a 2-2 draw on New Years Day and they’ve also recorded wins at Woking 3-2 and Stockport County 4-3 along with a draw at 7th placed Dartford in another 2-2 draw.
Southport’s away record stands at 3-4-5 22/25 and whilst they’ve conceded 25 goals, what gives the visitors a good chance of at least a draw here is the fact that they’ve scored 22 goals on the road with only Newport County and Cambridge United (24 goals apiece) scoring more than them so far this season.
In fact, Southport have failed to score just twice in their last fifteen away matches and they average at 1.83 goals per game away from home. Against a side that’s struggling for form at home this is the sort of goalscoring record that gives Southport more than just a fighting chance.
As mentioned, Telford have failed to win at home in their last five matches so I’ll back Southport here in this one with the round ball as a safety net in case it end up in a draw, but I fancy The Sandgrounders to grind out an away win here perhaps 2-1.
Pick: Southport AH0 (Draw No Bet) @ 1.86 Pinnacle looks a fair option
