Match Preview :- Hednesford Town - Saturday January 12th, 2019 (15:00:00)

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
Results
Sat 12 Jan 2019Stalybridge Celtic0-1
Sat 05 Jan 2019Scarborough Athletic3-5
Tue 01 Jan 2019Farsley Celtic0-1
Sat 22 Dec 2018Witton Albion0-1
Sat 15 Dec 2018Stafford Rangers1-4
Goal Scorers
Sweeney, Daniel7
Howard, Michael6
Cockerline, Daniel3
King, Reece3
Archer, Lewis2
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 Workington2-0Sat 15th Sep
Away win Grantham Town1-2Tue 2nd Oct
Home defeat Stafford Rangers1-3Tue 4th Sep
Away defeat Stafford Rangers4-1Sat 15th Dec
Home score Stafford Rangers1-3Tue 4th Sep
Away score Scarborough Athletic5-3Sat 5th Jan
Games Since... Overall Home Away
Last Scored 131
Last Conceded 111
Last Won 957
Last Drew 111
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