Monday sees a chance for Celtic to gain revenge for the recent 4-2 home defeat to Hyde United when we visit Ewen Fields for the Conference North clash (kick off 7:45pm). Hyde were lifted to seventeenth by the win last week, and now sit eleven places and fourteen points behind Celtic, having played two games more. There will be a live match centre for this game.
Hyde's away form returned to normal on Saturday when they lost 2-0 to Corby Town, but it will be Hyde's home form that Celtic will be facing on Monday, which is far better. The last time that Hyde lost at home was October when Corny beat them 3-1. They have beaten Droylsden, Eastwood, Hinckley and Fleetwood at home, and lost just three times (Corby, Alfreton and Blyth). With six wins out of the fifteen home games they have played this season, and four in the last ten, with one defeat and five draws, Hyde are eleventh in the form table, having taken the same number of points from the last thirty at home as Celtic: fifty-six percent. With six wins, three losses and a draw in the last ten, Celtic are second in the away form table, having taken sixty-three percent of the available points, including three wins out of the last three, meaning the automated prediction algorithm is suggesting a complete reversal of last Tuesday with a 4-2 win for Celtic.
Nathan Arnold's brace against us lifted him to third in Hyde's scorers char, one behind Scott Mooney, and three behind top scorer David McNiven. On average, they score 1.3 goals per game at home (one overall) and concede 1.5 goals per game at home (1.6 overall). They have kept two clean sheets at home, and failed to score just once (against Blyth back in August). They are vastly more dangerous in the second half, having scored just seven of their thirty-two goals in the first half. The second quarter of an hour is their most vulnerable, where they have conceded eighteen of their fifty-two goals this season.
Hyde have an almost full squad to choose from, missing Tom Manship (Achilles) and Mike Jones (back injury). In their last match the 2-0 away defeat at Corby Town, they lined up as:
1. Mark Halstead
2. Dean Stott
3. Mark Lees
4. Scott McNiven
5. Chris Lynch
6. Nathan D'Laryea
7. Matty Burke
8. Ricky Mercer
9. Scott Mooney
10. Kevin Holsgrove
11. Nathan Arnold
Celtic were without Richard Battersby, Andy Scott, Michael Carr and Warren Peyton against Telford, but new signing Tim Ryan made a clean-sheet debut. In that match, a 1-0 away win, Celtic lined up as:
1. Dave Carnell
2. John Hardiker
3. Danny Adams
4. Steve Woods
5. Barrie Keeling
6. Tim Ryan
7. Dave Hankin
8. Keith Briggs
9. Joe O'Neill
10. Jody Banim
11. Michael Twiss
Hopefully, the players will not make the same mistake as last Tuesday when Hyde were vastly underestimated, and play a game that matches the derby mentality of Hyde, and Celtic can move into the play offs. And if Redditch can stop Droylsden winning on Tuesday, Celtic will stay there until the weekend.
Other games this week:
Monday -
Hinckley United (52pts 4th) v Blyth Spartans (38pts 14th)
Tuesday -
Gainsborough Trinity (37pts 15th) v Corby Town (44pts 10th)
Gloucester City (31pts 19th) v Southport (67pts 2nd)
Harrogate Town (22pts 21st) v Workington (44pts 11th)
Ilkeston Town (44pts 9th) v Eastwood Town (47pts 8th)
Redditch United (34pts 18th) v Droylsden (48pts 5th)
Thursday
Celtic (48pts 6th) v Fleetwood Town (69pts 1st)
This is a good chance for Southport to go top with their last game in hand, and for Celtic to give them a helping hand on Thursday.
