Tuesday night sees Celtic with an early chance of revenge when Gainsborough Trinity visit for a 7:45pm kick off. Gainsborough beat Celtic earlier in the season, and now sit level on points in ninth, behind us on goal difference only.
Whilst their home form this season has been very good, and they have not lost at the Northolme (though they have drawn two of their last three to Alfreton and Hyde), they are yet to win on the road, their best result a 2-2 away draw at Nuneaton. They have scored in all except their first game this season, when they lost away at Southport, but have scored quite frequently since notching a good 4-1 win over Hucknall at home and coming from behind at home against Hyde to snatch two late goals and earn a draw. They have kept two clean sheets this season (both at home, to Redditch and Blyth)
On average, away from home they score a goal per game (2.1 overall), whilst conceding 2.6 goals per game (1.8 overall). They score their first goal on 29 minutes (26 overall), and concede in the 24th minute (28 overall). Their top scorer is Chris Hall, who scored both goals against us, and has gone on to find the net twice more and has four goals this season. His Golden Boot title is under threat from no less than six players, who are all on three goals each. Away from home, Ryan Mallon is their danger man having scored twice away from home, most recently against Nuneaton. Most of Gainsborough?s scoring and conceding is done in the first half, with fourteen of their twenty-three goals coming in this period, and six around the half hour mark. Just over half of their twenty conceded goals have come in the first half, with the twenty-five minute mark their most vulnerable, with seven scored in this spell. Their twenty-three goals this season mean that Trinity currently have the fourth best attack in the league, just behind Hyde, Southport and Kettering.
Trinity have won three of the last six encounters, and drawn one. Their last visit here, in a Trophy replay, saw them lose 2-1, but their last league encounter was a successful trip seeing them end a twenty year streak without a win at Bower Fold. Celtic have won ten of the fourteen games played at Bower Fold over their period, drawing three. The automated prediction algorithm has estimated a 4-3 score-line in Celtic?s favour for this trip, a result that would put pressure on Hyde and Telford in the last two play-off spots, narrowing the gap to just four points. It would also move us up one place, though to ensure overtaking Workington into seventh, we would have to win by two goals.
In other competitions, Gainsborough went out of the Setanta Shield recently, losing 2-1 at home to Boston, though a Jamie Smith hat-trick secured a 6-1 win over Stocksbridge Park Steels to send them into the next round of the FA Cup.
In their last match, Gainsborough drew 2-2 with Alfreton Town. In that match, they lined up as:
1. Arron Reid
2. Danny Wood
3. Martin Drury
4. Nick Ellis
5. Richard Pell
6. Danny Anson
7. Eric Graves
8. Liam Needham
9. Jamie Smith
10. Ryan Mallon
11. Chris Hall
Celtic were held to a goalless draw at home to Tamworth, in an entertaining game that put paid to any extended winning streak. In that game, we lined up as:
1. Paddy Gamble
2. James Dudgeon
3. Simon Garner
4. Gareth Davis
5. Mark Haran
6. Paul Sykes
7. Lee Ellington
8. Ashley Winn
9. Chris Hall
10. Matty Barlow
11. Carlos Roca
We have a good chance of winning this match, and we need to take it. Lee Ellington has yet to hit form, and what better time to do it than against his former club...?
