On Saturday, Celtic are at home to Hednesford Town. Hednesford are currently sixteenth on twenty-eight points, five places and six points behind Celtic. There will be a match centre and Twitter feed for this match.
Hednesford started the season reasonably, winning six of their twelve matches, until the second week of October when they beat South Shields at home 2-1. Since then, in the fifteen matches since, they have won just twice, beating Warrington Town at home and North Ferriby Away. The North Ferriby game are the only points they have picked up on the road since a 3-3 draw at Matlock at the end of October. In the other four of their last five away games they have lost 2-0 to Hyde, 4-2 at Workington, 4-1 in Stafford and, most recently, lost 5-3 at Scarborough. For the eight goals they have scored, they have conceded sixteen. Their form has seen them slide down the table and they are now the second worst form team in the league, and only five teams have conceded more goals, with only two teams (North Ferriby and Matlock) conceding more on the road.
Hednesford have had fourteen different scorers this season, with Daniel Sweeney just heading the pack on seven goals, with Michael Howard just behind on six. Hednesford don't have a problem scoring away from home with an average of 1.6 goals per game (1.2 overall), and failing to score only twice (six times overall); defending has been their issue with 2.2 goals per game conceded (1.7 overall), and failing to keep a clean sheet on their travels so far this season (though they have kept two at home).
Hednesford have visited Bower Fold eight times since 1995, in that time, Celtic have won twice and Hednesford four times. The most recent encounter was a 2-2 draw in February last season, with two goals from Matty Wolfenden giving us the lead until the last kick of the match, when Hednesford equalised. Our last win was the match before in December 2015, when both teams were in the Conference North, when Celtic won 4-2 with goals from Danny Burns, Dale Wright, Adam Farrell and John Shaw giving us a comfortable win. Our last loss to Hednesford at Bower Fold was 2014, when Hednesford were one of several teams that season to beat us 5-0.
In their last match, the 5-3 defeat by Scarborough Athletic, Hednesford lined up as:
1. Mate Deczki
2. Alex Melbourne
3. Isaac Cooper
4. Alex-Ray Harvey
5. Charlie Gatter
6. Ben Bailey
7. Matthew Dodd
8. Reece King
9. Andre Johnson
10. Lewis Archer
11. Osebi Abadaki
In the Celtic's last match, the 1-1 draw away at Runcorn Linnets in the Cheshire Senior cup we lost on penalties, Celtic lined up as:
1. Aidan Winterbottom
2. Tom Brown
3. Gareth Roberts
4. Ross Dent
5. Olly Marx
6. Michael Clarke
7. Scott Bakkor
8. Glen Rule
9. Neil Kengni
10. Matty Wolfenden
11. Greg Wilkinson
Hednesford have recently brought in Stoke City's youth keeper, Mate Deczki and former Barrow and Guiseley defender, Alex-Ray Harvey. Celtic have Paddy Wharton returning on loan until the end of the season. Tom Brown and Gareth Roberts were drafted in as an emergency fullbacks against Runcorn, with Celtic's fullback crisis continuing apace. Josh Solomon-Davies, Liam Tongue, Scott Wilson, Jack Taylor, Elliott Cooke and Chris Smalley all doubts for the weekend.
A win for Celtic is unlikely to move us above Hyde, as they have an eighteen goal difference advantage over us following their remarkable game last weekend. A loss also is unlikely to see us drop a place, though with Whitby not playing this weekend, and us having a ten goal difference advantage over Grantham. A win would keep us in touch with the top ten, though.
Table |
P | Pts | |
15 | Witton Albion | 22 | 29 |
---|---|---|---|
16 | Mickleover FC | 26 | 26 |
17 | Hednesford Town | 26 | 25 |
18 | Marine | 24 | 24 |
19 | Lancaster City | 24 | 23 |
Sat 12 Jan 2019 | Stalybridge Celtic | 0-1 |
Sat 05 Jan 2019 | Scarborough Athletic | 3-5 |
Tue 01 Jan 2019 | Farsley Celtic | 0-1 |
Sat 22 Dec 2018 | Witton Albion | 0-1 |
Sat 15 Dec 2018 | Stafford Rangers | 1-4 |
Goal Scorers | H | A | 1st | 2nd | Total | |
1 | Sweeney, Daniel | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
2 | Howard, Michael | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
3 | Cockerline, Daniel | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
3= | King, Reece | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
4 | Archer, Lewis | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Home win | Workington | 2-0 | Sat 15th Sep |
Away win | Grantham Town | 1-2 | Tue 2nd Oct |
Home defeat | Stafford Rangers | 1-3 | Tue 4th Sep |
Away defeat | Stafford Rangers | 4-1 | Sat 15th Dec |
Home score | Stafford Rangers | 1-3 | Tue 4th Sep |
Away score | Scarborough Athletic | 5-3 | Sat 5th Jan |
Games Since... | Overall | Home | Away |
Last Scored | 1 | 3 | 1 |
Last Conceded | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Last Won | 9 | 5 | 7 |
Last Drew | 1 | 1 | 1 |