Next Match – Hampton & Richmond – Home
City will be hoping to build on Saturday’s pleasing performance and result at Chelmsford when they return to action at Twerton Park on Tuesday.
They welcome struggling Hampton & Richmond Borough for a rescheduled fixture following a postponement in December due to a frozen pitch.
After a very poor run which has seen no wins picked up in their last nine matches, The Beavers have dropped to 20th position, just one above the drop zone with the four below them surely targeting the London club as the one to overtake.
However, that recent record has seen six of the nine matches played away and Mel Gwinnett’s team should take heart from the fact that after their visit to Twerton, the majority of their remaining fixtures are at home.
But with a record of only two victories at The Beveree, equalling the worst in the division, that may not be much of an advantage.
In fact their last win in the league came way back on 12th November matching City’s 2-0 victory at Chelmsford.
That success at Melbourne Park was one of four which Hampton have picked up on opponents’ grounds and none of their losses have been by more than two goals.
On Saturday they went down 2-1 at St Albans which at least was an improvement on the six goal hammering they had previously suffered at home to the Hertfordshire club.
Their FA Cup run ended in a Fourth Qualifying Round replay defeat to Torquay, having put paid to the hopes of Paulton Rovers in the previous round, while any interests in the Trophy were quickly put to bed by Farnborough.
City had travelled to The Beveree back in August for their third fixture of the season when a superb dipping shot from Scott Wilson provided an equaliser to a home goal converted immediately following a penalty save by Joe Wright.
This season’s two matches have followed the pattern of recent seasons with the Fixtures Secretary pairing the two clubs for midweek meetings despite there being a distance of over 100 miles between the two grounds.
On a November evening last season, Jordan Dyer’s late goal was not enough to prevent the visitors leaving Twerton Park with a 3-1 win and making it nine defeats in eleven outings for City.
Since we first crossed paths in 2007, City have achieved four wins in the eight matches played at Twerton Park and home supporters will be hoping to extend Hampton’s barren run and lift their team to 11th place.
Tickets for the match can be bought in advance from the Club’s website.
