Match Preview :- Harrogate Town - Saturday April 4th, 2015 (15:00:00)

On Saturday, Celtic face the first of our six remaining cup finals, facing Harrogate Town (Kick off 3pm). Harrogate are currently eight places and fourteen points above Celtic in thirteenth on forty-eight points, though they have played a game more. There will be a match centre for this game.

By their standards, Harrogate have had a poor season, having spent the entirety of it in the bottom half of the table. Their highest position this season was twelfth, a position they got into after a good end of January, February period that saw them lose only once in nine games, away at Boston United. However, a loss and two draws in their last three games has seen them drop a place to their current spot. It took Harrogate six games to get a win this season, a 1-0 home win over Oxford. Away from home, wins have been even harder to come by, with five all season, although three of those away wins have been in their last five away matches, with wins over Gainsborough, Fylde and Solihull Moors. Their last away game was a 1-1 draw with Hyde, which was enough to relegate Hyde and put Harrogate almost mathematically safe. If Harrogate win on Saturday, we will be unable to catch them, and if other results go their way, they will be mathematically safe.

As expected, James Walshaw is Harrogate's top scorer this season, with ten goals, with Dan Clayton and Andy Gasgoigne his closest rivals with five apiece. They score an average of 1.1 goals per game (0.9 per game away) and concede 1.4 goals per game (1.7 goals per game away). They have failed to score in seven away games, and kept four clean sheets. If they are losing at half time away from home, they go onto lose the game, which has happened eight times this season. They have conceded a total of fifty-two goals, thirty of which were away, and scored forty-two, only seventeen of which were away, giving them one of the worst away scoring records in the league.

We actually have a good record against Harrogate at Bower Fold, in recent years at least. Their last win at Bower Fold was in 2010, when they won 1-0. Their last visit here was a 3-2 win for Celtic back in September 2013. In their last four visits, we have won four and lost once. Harrogate have never had a draw with Celtic at Bower Fold, which bodes for a result one way or the other. Hopefully, in Celtic's favour.

James Cadman has recently joined Harrogate on loan, but won't feature, as it is part of the loan agreement, otherwise, Harrogate are just about fully fit and have no suspensions. In Harrogate's last match, the 12-1 home draw with Lowestoft, Harrogate lined up as:
1. Peter Crook
2. Ryan Fallowfiled
3. Louie Swan
4. Leigh Franks
5. Luke Shiels
6. David McGurk
7. Cecil Nyoni
8. Paddy McLaughlin
9. Paul Clayton
10. Jordan Thewlis
11. Jack Emmett

Celtic injury list is the usual of Lewis King and Kelvin Bleau, neither of whom look likely to feature again this season, whilst Harley Wigley is serving his suspension for the sending off against Barrow. In our last match, the 1-1 away draw with Leamington, Celtic lined up as:
1. Ross Etheridge
2. Stefan Galinski
3. Oliver Crowley
4. Matt Regan
5. Matty Hughes
6. Michael Potts
7. Aidan Chippendale
8. Scott Kerr
9. Chris Simm
10. Michael Powell
11. Tom Bentham

Celtic are still four points away from safety, but a win could see us move to third from bottom, and give the squad a massive psychological boost, if we win and Brackley lose. Leamington, Cowlyn Bay and Gloucester are all catchable, but Gainsborough's midweek win has put them on forty-two points, not mathematically unreachable, but probably safe. A loss doesn't bare calculating, as it moves the safety zone down, not in our favour. With Gloucester and Leamington playing each other, one or the other will break the forty point barrier, so that is a game to watch the result of, from our perspective. Other results that will affect us are Brackley v Solihull and Colwyn Bay v Guiseley, hopefully both away wins, while we have a home win.

Other games this Good Friday and Saturday:
Barrow (74pts 1st) v Stockport County (53pts 10th) – Good Friday
Brackley Town (37pts 20th) v Solihull Moors (49pts 12th)
Bradford Park Avenue (45pts 14th) v AFC Fylde (72pts 2nd)
Colwyn Bay (39pts 18th) v Guiseley (63pts 4th)
Gloucester City (39pts 17th) v Leamington FC (38pts 19th)
Lowestoft Town (43pts 15th) v Worcester City (52pts 11th)
North Ferriby United (53pts 9th) v Chorley (66pts 3rd)
Oxford City (58pts 8th) v Boston United (63pts 5th)
Tamworth (63pts 6th) v Gainsborough Trinity (42pts 16th)

Match Sponsor
M G Domestics
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0161 338 2828
Man of the Match Sponsor
Les Hodgson
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