Match Preview: Isthmian League South Central Division
Westfield Vs Basingstoke Town
When: Friday 15th April 2022 Kick-off 1pm
Where: Woking Park, Kingfield Road, Woking, Surrey. GU22 9BA
Westfield (Nickname – The Field), Average 2021-22 Home Attendance 117
Admission Prices: Adults £9, Concessions £5 Accompanied Under 16’s £3
After last Saturday’s nail-biting extended injury-time 3-2 win at home to South Park, we head just 30 miles up the M3 to face Westfield in our penultimate away game of the season.
We hosted Westfield at Winklebury back at the beginning of January and was one of those home performances that never got going as we fell two behind inside the first half-hour, and it took a second-half comeback, with goals by Conor Lynch and substitute Lloyd Snell to scrape a point at home.
Our Opponents
The Field are managed by Simon Lane, who is about to complete his second season at the club, having managed teams such as Wingate & Finchley and Northwood previously..
Westfield sit in 15th place in the league with a current record of PLD 33 Won 6 Drawn 3 Lost 14 GF 35 GA 47 PTS 21. Their recent performances have been decent with one win (1-0) against Sutton Common Rovers, and two draws, one including a 1-1 draw at Hanwell Town. Their overall home record is sits at 4 wins, 6 draws and just 6 losses, and as per their goal difference shows they score and concede few goals as well. This is confirmed with the fact that they have not scored or conceded more than one goal in their last five matches.
With their lack of finding the net, their leading goal-scorer is 21 year-old midfielder Ilk Hill who has ten goals on the season, and previously played for Winchester City. Their leading striker is young Sam Evans who has 8 goals and came through the Woking academy. Alongside him will likely be William Efambe and Liam Montague.
In midfield they also have ex-Met Police Kai Hamilton-Olise who has five goals on the season. Samir Bajja has five goals and his previous clubs include Beaconsfield, Farnborough & Hayes Yeading. Add to that Troy Timothy who is out of the Fulham academy and has played for Hayes & Yeading.
In defence, will be ex-Chalfont St-Peter defender Luke Elliott, centre-back Caleb Wright who played for Bedford & Kempston Rovers. Add ex Sutton Common Rovers defender Niran Butler who are regulars in their defence.
In goal back in January was Callum Backhurst, but Toby Fisher has had a couple of starts recently.
Your Basingstoke Town Side
Following our victory against Mr Gigantic and the rest of the South Park side, the three points pushed us up into fourth place, as we head back out on the road. Our record now sits at PLD 33 Won 19 Drawn 7 Lost 7 GF 60 GA 45 Pts 64, but as previously stated a far inferior goal-difference than the teams around us. Our away form still sits at an impressive 11 wins, 4 draws and just the loss at Bracknell.
As for the probable line-up tomorrow, it is very likely that both Conor Lynch who bagged a brace last week, and Stefan Brown, will head the attack, as we look to start strong tomorrow. Conor now has 24 goals on the season, whilst Stefan has 11.
Attacking winger George Reid is now returning to the form he showed earlier in the season and should surely start, and last week in a very attacking move McKoy Palmer also started, which worked as we controlled most of the first-half, and included Mckoy’s hit from 40-plus yards.
Simon Dunn, started on the bench last week, but was a late substitute in an effort to stem the constant South Park attacks, helped by what seemed an extra-time of all but 15 minutes. He is likely to be back wearing the captains armband in what is another crucial game. Ben Cook & D’Andre Brown pushed the team forward and there is no reason that at least one should not be in the starting line-up. Both did miss sitters in the final few minutes to put the game away. What Dan decides to do with Anton Rodgers, absent last week, and Lloyd Snell and Marco Magalhaes-Nevez, are raring to prove themselves, but likely to start on the bench once again. The same is likely for Jack French.
In defence, will be the central-back pairing of Nathan Smart & Rob Sheridan, even if Jon Boardman was a second-half inclusion last week, to help blunt the long-throw concerns from South Park. Daryl Wollers if he trained Tuesday night, could be added to the bench this weekend. With Aiden Lewis’s absent from the squad last week, it gave Dan Williamson the chance to return to his right-back role, whilst James Haworth will retain his slot on the left.
Keeper Paul Strudley will again be between the sticks once again tomorrow.
With just a short train or car journey to the Westfield ground, I am expecting a large Stoke travelling support to the 1pm kick-off and this could be a major factor in getting the team across the line and the three points, in what could be a low-scoring game.
As always let’s get behind Dan, Aaron, and the players in this crucial game.
Match Preview by Martin French.
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