Stadium: Draper Tools Community Stadium (Capacity: 5,300)
Table Position: 9th
Top Scorer: Muhammadu Faal (20)
Manager: Jamie Collins
Nickname: The Hawks
2022/23 average attendance: 987
Concord Rangers' hunt for their first National League South home win of 2023 continues on Saturday afternoon as playoff hopefuls Havant and Waterlooville make the trip to the Essex.
The Hawks were one of the pre-season promotion favourites following some eye-catching summer arrivals and they started this season impressively going 11 games unbeaten from opening day up until October when they were beaten 1-0 by Oxford City.
Havant kept up this good form and were placed 4th on New Years Day. However as February began Havant's form took a nosedive and the men from Hampshire are now sat 9th in the table having not won in ten games.
This poor run of results led to Paul Doswell being dismissed as first team manager with defender Jamie Collins taking his place.
Havant were last in action on Tuesday night with Collins' side being beaten 2-0 by playoff rivals St Albans City.
Concord were also beaten in midweek with the Beach Boys being defeated 2-1 in injury time by Farnborough; a result that leaves Concord rooted to the foot of the table nine points from safety but with five games in hand.
The head-to-head record suggests this could go either way. Havant have only lost one of their last nine meetings with Concord - including the 2-0 win the Hawks recorded over Rangers in the reverse fixture.
However Concord can be confident knowing that they have only lost one of their last six home games against Havant.
With both teams looking to end winless runs it has all the ingredients to be an entertaining fixture.
Key Player
Muhammadu Faal
A familiar face for Concord fans, Muhammadu Faal was on target when Havant defeated the Beach Boys in October, scoring the Hawks' second goal in their 2-0 win.
Faal has proved a handful for all defences in the division this term with the Hackney born attacker bagging an impressive 20 goals - with four of these coming in Havant's last five games.
The 25 year old will also be familiar to Concord manager Rob Small, as when with Enfield Town last season Faal scored the opening goal in the Towners' 3-1 win over a Bowers & Pitsea side that was then managed by Small.
Previously in his career Faal has also represented both Barnet and Bolton Wanderers.
Form
Concord Rangers
L - 1-2 vs Chelmsford City (H)
L - 0-2 vs Braintree Town (N) - Essex Senior Cup
L - 0-3 vs Hemel Hempstead Town (A)
L - 1-2 vs Farnborough (A)
Havant and Waterlooville
D - 2-2 vs Farnborough (A)
D - 1-1 vs Tonbridge Angels (H)
L - 2-3 vs Worthing (A)
L - 0-2 vs St Albans City (A)
Head-to-head
08/10/2022: Havant and Waterlooville 2-0 Concord Rangers
12/02/2022: Concord Rangers 3-1 Havant and Waterlooville
09/10/2021: Havant and Waterlooville 2-0 Concord Rangers
01/02/2020: Concord Rangers 0-0 Havant and Waterlooville
26/10/2019: Havant and Waterlooville 2-1 Concord Rangers
By Nathan Williams
Comments
Post a Comment