On Saturday Histon come for their first visit to Bower Fold for the Blue Square Bet Conference North clash (kick off 3pm). Histon are currently thirteenth in the table on nineteen points, eleven places and twenty points behind second placed Celtic. There will be a live match centre for this game.
Histon's first season in the Conference North has not been an easy ride, despite being the league's other full time team. They have won just five matches all season, three away and two at home. On their travels they have beaten Eastwood, Hinckley and Solihull, whilst at home they have only beaten Workington and Harrogate. Histon have had just one away draw, in their first away match of the season at Boston, which finished 1-1. Histon's most recent win was at home against Workington in their last home match, while the game before that away at Eastwood was their most recent away win. Their last away game was also in Tameside, when Hyde beat them 4-0.
We've only met Histon once, earlier this season when we beat them 1-0 at their place with Lloyd Ellams getting the goal past an otherwise outstanding keeper (and Ellams only got the chance because Jennings's initial effort had been saved!).
The top scorer at Histon is Dan Holman, whose eight goals put him tenth in the overall league golden boot (a chart which has Connor Jennings in second, and Phil Marsh in third). Dan Sparkes is Holman's closest rival for the Histon Golden Boot on five. Histon's most dangerous period is the quarter hour leading up to the seventy minute mark, seeing them score twelve of their twenty-five goals. The same point of the game is also their most vulnerable period with nine of their conceded twenty-nine goals scored in this time frame. On average Histon score 1.4 goals per away game (1.5 overall) whilst conceding 1.8 goals per game. Histon have kept four clean sheets in total, with two of them on the road (at Hinckley and Solihull). Their best away result was the 2-0 win in the Solihull game, whilst Hyde have dealt them their worst defeat beating them 4-0.
Histon appear to be injury free and have no suspensions ahead of the match on Saturday. In their last game, the 4-0 defeat away at Hyde, Histon lined up as:
1. Jorg Stadelmann
2. Zak Mills
3. Harri Hawkins
4. Pelayo Gomez-Pico
5. Remy Clerima
6. Danny Fitzsimons
7. Lewis Taaffe
8. Jim Stevenson
9. Dan Holman
10. Omer Riza
11. Daniel Sparkes
Celtic were without Tim Ryan and Kristian Platt in our last league match (foot and cheek respectively) against Droylsden, whilst Jan Budtz also missed the Cheshire senior cup match. However, Celtic are suspension free. In our last league match, the 3-3 away draw with Droylsden, Celtic lined up as:
1. Jan Budtz
2. Joel Bembo-Leta
3. Andy McWilliams
4. Rhys Meynell
5. Chris Lynch
6. Jack Rea
7. Stephen Brogan
8. Greg Wilkinson
9. Phil Marsh
10. Lloyd Ellams
11. Connor Jennings
The automated prediction algorithm is suggesting a 3-2 win for Celtic as they look to maintain an enviable home record that has seen them pick up twenty-eight points from a possible thirty, and win all but one home league match this season. Indeed, Celtic's last league loss at Bower Fold was nineteen games ago back in January! It would be a fantastic achievement to go a whole calendar year without losing at home. With Hyde having a tricky fixture away at Boston, and Gainsborough having a similarly tricky tie away at Colwyn Bay, this is a good chance to regain top spot with a game in hand over Hyde.
Other games on Saturday:
Boston United (24pts 10th) v Hyde (41pts 1st)
Colwyn Bay (22pts 12th) v Gainsborough Trinity (31pts 3rd)
Eastwood Town (12pts 21st) v Guiseley (29pts 4th)
Gloucester City (16pts 15th) v Harrogate Town (18pts 14th)
Nuneaton Town (24pts 7th) v Workington (14pts 19th)
Solihull Moors (16pts 16th) v Bishops Stortford (13pts 20th)
Vauxhall Motors (14pts 18th) v Droylsden (24pts 8th)
Worcester City (24pts 9th) v Altrincham (25pts 6th)