Celtic are on their travels again on Saturday visiting Solihull Borough?s Damson Park ground for our clash with Moor Green (kick off 3pm). Moor Green have been playing at Damson Park for a couple of seasons since their own ground was burned down.
After a good start, Moor Green currently lie in twelfth position, on ten points, two points and six places behind Celtic. Celtic are currently sixth, just three points behind league leaders, Blyth Spartans. They lost their opening game 0-1 when Harrogate Town visited, and have lost once on their travels away at Scarborough, but they have recorded wins away at Worcester and Farsley Celtic both 1-0. At home, they had a goalless draw with Leigh RMI and thumped Droylsden 5-2.
That 5-2 win belies the fact that they have failed to score in three of their games, having scored seven goals in six games, giving them a home goal scoring ratio of 1.67 (1.17 overall), whilst conceding a goal per game, with three clean sheets. Celtic have kept two clean sheets on our travels, and have only scored two goals, giving us a goal ratio of 0.7 away (1.7 overall), and a concession ratio of 0.67 (1.1 overall).
Celtic score fairly evenly throughout the game, with a slight peak in the final quarter of an hour, but our conceding is done nearly completely in the second half, with only one of the eight goals conceded coming in the first half, and in the last five minutes of the half at that. In contrast Moor Green have scored only twice in the second half, with their other five goals coming in the first. They too have not conceded a goal before the fortieth minute.
Moor Green have yet to beat Celtic in the Conference North, having met us four times, earning three draws and suffering one defeat at Bower Fold. This season, though, the Moors won their last game, their away trip to the other Celtic, with their last home game being a 0-0 draw with Leigh RMI. Celtic lost their last away game, the 2-1 defeat at Workington, whilst winning their last game also, the 3-0 victory over Worksop.
Green?s top scorer is (once again) Darren Middleton, with two goals. Celtic?s top scorer (once again) is Lee Ellington with three; Celtic have three players on two goals, Paul Sykes, Steve Brodie and Mark Hume.
Mark Haran started, and Lee Morris made it off the bench again against Worksop, and Ben Smith made it to the bench in that game, though Barrie Keeling was absent. Moor Green don?t have any injury or suspension worries ahead of the match.
In their 1-0 win over Farlsey, Moor Green lined up as:
1. Daniel Lewis
2. Richard Scott
3. Richard Follett
4. Lee Ayres
5. Guy Sanders
6. Terry Flemming
7. Dave Morrison
8. Peter Faulds
9. Jason Moore
10. Darren Middleton
11. Phil Trainer
Celtic lined up in their 3-0 win over Worksop as:
1. Paul Pettinger
2. Grant Black
3. Scott Maxfield
4. Mark Haran
5. Mark Hume
6. Ashley Winn
7. Steve Brodie
8. Kevin Parr
9. Lee Ellington
10. Paul Sykes
11. James Turley
The automated prediction algorithm is prediction a third draw on the trot of visiting Moor Green, like our last visit of 1-1. However, Celtic are capable of taking more than one point out of this game. A work rate like the Worksop game will see all three points coming to Bower Fold, and those three points could well put us in the top three. Blyth and Hucknall go head to head at Blyth, whilst Worcester host Farsley, Hinckley visit Harrogate and Kettering go to Leigh.