Winchester City v Tiverton Town
Pitching In Southern League, Premier Division South
The Simplyhealth City Ground, 7.45 pm
IN a quick turnaround, the Tiverton team travels to Hampshire on Tuesday to face a Winchester side who, although not in action at the weekend because of the weather, did put five past Bracknell without reply a week ago.
The Yellows should be enthused by their excellent win against the same opposition on Saturday, finally laying their home hoodoo to rest. Leigh Robinson may utilise his squad this evening, because the heavy conditions in which that game took place could call for fresher legs.
Winchester have taken some notable scalps during this campaign and can boast wins against two of the promotion candidates, Chesham and Merthyr. Both of those victories came on their travels and Salisbury could only draw with the Citizens when they visited the Simplyhealth City Ground.
One player that has always excelled at this level is goalkeeper Luke Cairney, Winchester benefiting from the fallout of former Poole manager Tom Killick’s departure from the Dolphins. He is without doubt a gloveman more than capable of playing at a higher level and did so for a season with Hungerford a few campaigns back.
However, with a few exceptions, long serving manager Craig Davis has been the architect of a talented squad that has remained loyal and that loyalty is mutual.
Many of the players that won promotion from Southern League Division 1 South a couple of terms ago are still around. Forwards Conor Lynch, a pre-season addition from Hanwell, and Devon Arnold, who was short of game-time at title contenders Salisbury, joined a short while back. Both have added depth and talent to the squad. Simba Mlambo, now in his seventh campaign with the Citizens, will also be a danger.
For Tiverton, it will be a real feather in the cap if they can build on their Saturday success. Leigh Robinson will be hoping to have as many players available as possible for this midweek journey, although he will probably again be without the injured Matt Britton.
Jack Rice has been in good goalscoring form of late and let us hope that the Yellows can dig deep for a positive result.
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