Next Match – Chelmsford City – Home
City welcome our old friends from Chelmsford City to Twerton Park on Saturday for the first of two home fixtures in four days.
Buy tickets online for a £1 saving on all prices (up to 23.45 the night before the match).
With home wins already against Braintree and Slough, plus a visit from Weymouth on Tuesday, there is the opportunity to consolidate a place in the leading group before the first outing in the FA Cup.
Our visitors from Essex have enjoyed a similar encouraging start to the season, presently lying in fourth position, with their only defeat being to Havant in a 4-3 thriller last Saturday.
The Clarets are unbeaten away from Melbourne Park, winning at Slough and Welling while picking up a point at Chippenham in a rearranged fixture after the original was abandoned due to the serious injury to Pablo Martinez.
Like ourselves, they struggled last season finishing only five points above relegated Billericay. Yet Robbie Simpson’s team were mainly looking over their shoulder as they consistently picked up positive results against those around them, including City.
The fixture at Twerton was played in August and Cody Cooke’s 90th minute strike was our only response to goals either side of half time as Chelmsford inflicted our first defeat of the season. The double was completed in dismal January weather at Melbourne Park in a match mainly remembered for the penalty award to City which was changed following an intervention from the referee’s assistant and we went down to the single home goal.
In total the Essex club have made 41 visits in the League to Twerton since their first in 1938. It was a happy hunting ground for them in the post war years but their victory here last season was only the second in the last ten.
Back in the 1950s crowds of over 5,000 watched the two clubs meet at Twerton with the largest in recent years turning up for the play-off semi-final in 2010 when 1,425 saw Kaid Mohamed’s and Hector Mackie’s goals give City the advantage in their memorable run to promotion.
City will be hoping for a similar attendance on Saturday and tickets can be bought in advance from the Club’s website.
