Match Preview :- Hednesford Town - Saturday November 1st, 2014 (15:00:00)

On Saturday, Celtic get back to action after an enforced week's absence, when the visitors will be promotion hopefuls, Hednesford Town. Hednesford are currently eighth in the table on twenty-two points, eleven points and eleven places ahead of nineteenth placed Celtic. There will be a match centre for this game.

Since losing their opening two games away to Gainsborough Trinity (0-1) and at home to Leamington (1-2), Hednesford have made a slow and steady progression up the table. They have lost three more times since the start of August, with Fylde beating them 3-1 at Fylde, and Chorley beating them 2-0 in Chorley. They also lost to Colwyn Bay at the start of October, which was their last defeat. Since then, they have beaten Hyde at home (4-1) and Oxford away (3-0), though Oxford were down to ten men for most of the match, and they have drawn with Bradford Park Avenue 1-1 at home.

Last season, Hednesford Town finished fourth on seventy-eight points, but couldn't progress through the play-offs. They finished fifteen places ahead of Celtic and had twice Celtic's points haul. They thumped us twice last season, beating us 4-1 at their place, and 4-0 at Bower Fold. Our meeting prior to that was a couple of seasons' back, in April 2006, when Celtic beat Hednesford 3-0 at Bower Fold, and drew 1-1 in the midlands. In their last five visits, though, they have won three, drawn one and lost only once. So they have a good record here.

Hednesford's top scorer is Danny Glover, who generally is the top scorer for whomever he plays for. So far he has seven goals, but has yet to score away from home. He's not the only one, with only a third of their goals coming away from home, and five of those seven coming in their last two away games. Hednesford are definitely a first half team, and when they have got ahead at half time, they have gone on to win all six of those games. Teams that have got ahead of them at half time, or are level on goals, have a good record against them, so it is worth having a good go at them from the off.

Hednesford do not have any suspensions ahead of the game, and have recently signed striker Richard Batchelor, who scored twice on his debut for the Pitmen. In their last match, the 3-0 away defeat over Oxford, Hednesford lined up as:
1. Dan Crane
2. Alex Melbourne
3. Darren Campion
4. Ben Bailey
5. Chris Westwood
6. Jamie Crowther
7. Tom Thorley
8. Glenn Walker
9. Danny Glover
10. Steve Diggin
11. Richard Batchelor

Celtic will be without Matty Hughes who is serving the second of his three matches and Keith Briggs, who has a one match ban for his red card against Colwyn Bay, whilst Matt Regan will have to be assessed having missed a couple of games through injury, though Liam Dickinson will be back after his one match ban. In Celtic's last match, the 2-1 home defeat to Colwyn Bay, Celtic lined up as:
1. Lewis King
2. Kelvin Bleau
3. Nathan Heath
4. Mike Williams
5. Harley Wigley
6. Aidan Chippendale
7. Ben McKenna
8. Keith Briggs
9. Anthony Malbon
10. Paul Ennis
11. Todd Jordan

To say Celtic need a win, is an understatement. Level on points with Tamworth in the drop zone, and ahead on goal difference only is a precarious place to be. Even Gloucester could overtake us, with victory over Lowestoft, at Lowestoft. With Brackley, the team in eighteenth now four points clear, even a win wouldn't lift us any places in the table, but would prevent us dropping into the bottom three!

Other games on Saturday:
Barrow (29pts 2nd) v Guiseley (23pts 6th)
Boston United (21pts 9th) v AFC Fylde (31pts 1st)
Brackley Town (15pts 18th) v Colwyn Bay (19pts 12th)
Bradford Park Avenue (15pts 17th) v Tamworth (20pts 11th)
Gainsborough Trinity (15pts 16th) v Chorley (24pts 4th)
Harrogate Town (16pts 14th) v Stockport County (23pts 7th)
Leamington FC (17pts 13th) v Worcester City (20pts 10th)
Lowestoft Town (16pts 15th) v Gloucester City (9pts 21st)
North Ferriby United (19pts 13th) v Oxford City (24pts 5th)
Solihull Moors (24pts 3rd) v Hyde (7pts 22nd)

Table
P Pts
2 AFC Fylde 13 28
3 Solihull Moors 15 27
4 Hednesford Town 16 25
5 Chorley 13 24
6 Boston United 14 24
Results
Sat 01 Nov 2014Stalybridge Celtic5-0
Sat 25 Oct 2014Oxford City3-0
Sat 18 Oct 2014Bradford Park Avenue1-1
Sat 11 Oct 2014Hyde United4-1
Tue 07 Oct 2014Colwyn Bay0-2
Goal Scorers
Glover, Danny7
Batchelor, Richard4
Diggin, Steve3
Robinson, Marvin2
Peers, Tom2
Previous Meetings
Saturday October 28, 2023
1
1
Saturday September 02, 2023
3
2
Saturday April 13, 2019
1
0
Saturday January 12, 2019
1
0
Saturday February 17, 2018
2
2
Records
Home win Hyde United4-1Sat 11th Oct
Away win Oxford City0-3Sat 25th Oct
Home defeat Colwyn Bay0-2Tue 7th Oct
Away defeat Chorley2-0Sat 20th Sep
Home score Hyde United4-1Sat 11th Oct
Away score AFC Fylde3-1Sat 30th Aug
Games Since... Overall Home Away
Last Scored 111
Last Conceded 213
Last Won 121
Last Drew 213
Match Sponsor
H M G Paints
Ball Sponsor
Sterling Racing
Man of the Match Sponsor
Royton Cricket Club
Programme Sponsor
Denton West Cricket Club