On Easter Monday, Celtic face Hyde in the local derby. This match is segregated, home fans should use the top turnstiles. Kick-off is 1pm. Hyde are currently sixth in the league on sixty-two points, fourteen places and twenty-two points ahead of Celtic. Tickets are available online or on the gate.

Hyde had a fantastic start to the season, losing only three games between August and November and topping the table. In that period, they won ten and drew three. However, results since then have knocked them from the top spot. Since November, they have won seven, lost eight and drawn eight and have not won since the start of March, losing four of their last five, having a goalless draw at home to Whitby, dropping them out of the play-off spots, though they are still capable of getting into the top five. One more win each for Radcliffe and Gainsborough and one more loss for Hyde would see their play-off hopes dashed. Away from home, they have won eight, drawn seven and lost four, meaning they have lost fewer away from home than they have at home, where they have lost seven. Only Morpeth and Lancaster have done the double over them this season, and only Celtic can add to that. They lost to Lancaster in their last away game, whilst losing ot Morpeth in their most recent match.

Fifty-seven goals scored give Hyde the sixth best attack in the league, and only Warrington and South Shields have conceded fewer. Away from home, they have the seventh best defence, but the third best defence. The have scored four in their last seven matches, whilst conceding seven in the same period. With eleven goals, Jack Redshaw is staking a claim for their top scorer, five clear of his nearest rivals. On average they scored their thirty-one away goals at a rate of 1.6 goals per game (1.5 overall) and conceded their twenty-one goals at a rate of 1.1 goals per game (1 goal per game overall). Hyde have kept six of their fourteen clean sheets on the road, and failed to score four times (six times at home), with their last failure to score a 1-0 loss at Radcliffe.

Celtic have already played Hyde this season, on Boxing Day, when Celtic won 1-0 in Ewen Fields, Chris Dagnall’s late screamer the difference. Their last visit to Bower Fold saw a 1-1 draw in 2019, with Callum Harris cancelling out Joe Mitchell’s first half stoppage time opener. The last time Celtic won at Bower Fold over Hyde was in 2015, when we won 7-1 thanks to the mercurial Dominic Calvert-Levin. The last time Hyde won at Bower Fold in the league was 2012, when they beat us 3-1. Since then, they have visited twice in the league, both games ending in draws. In their last ten visits, Hyde have won five, and Celtic three.

In Hyde’s last match, the 2-1 home loss to Morpeth, Hyde lined up as:
1. Dan Atherton
2. Harry Ditchfield
3. Javid Neavin
4. Callum Spooner
5. Jordan Fagbola
6. Brad Roscoe
7. AJ Leitch-Smith
8. Tom Iorpenda
9. Will Russ
10. Jack Redshaw
11. Tom Pratt

In Celtic’s last league match, the 1-1 away draw at Guiseley, Celtic lined up as:
1. Joseph O’Shaughnessy
2. Luke Barlow
3. Anis Zaknoune
4. Mo Ali
5. Danny Burns
6. Tom Miller
7. Theo Bailey-Jones
8. Domaine Rouse
9. Raul Correia
10. Ethan Padden
11. Harry Benns

Celtic still have a few injury concerns, without Nathan Caine and Greg Hall, though Ciaran Summers came on as a sub against Guiseley. Kyle Harrison remains unavailable through his four match ban, with three matches left to serve.

A win for Celtic could see us escape the drop zone, with Nantwich (at home to Stafford), Marske (away at Morpeth) and Atherton (at home to Guiseley) all within reach. Belper are now relegated, and Liversedge have too great a goal difference to overtake us, even if they beat Gainsborough Trinity away and we lose. It is all to play for. We’ve done it once this season, but there have rarely been such big games against Hyde as this.