The Dolphins start the match in 8^th place in the table (P10 W4 D4 L2 16 points) just two points above the Hawks who are in 9^th place on 14 points.

Steve Tully and Luke Burbidge will be concerned at the lack of goals that their team are scoring, having found the net on nine occasions in the first ten matches. Only Wimborne Town (8), Tiverton Town (7) and Plymouth Parkway (5) have scored fewer than us. Having a strong defense is the main reason for our healthy position in the table.

After keeping a clean sheet at Sholing and looking ahead to Tuesday, assistant manager Luke Burbidge said “They’ve just been relegated, and we need to be ready, we’ll expect another really tough encounter.”

The Hawks were relegated from the National League South last season after finishing in 23^rd place and winning just 10 of the 46 games played and conceding 92 goals in the process.

After the first ten games of this season, they have won three, all at home and drawn 5, losing the other two. They have drawn away at Wimborne Town, Dorchester Town and Bracknell Town.

The Havant & Waterlooville Player of The Month award for September went to the midfielder, Keane Anderson, who received over 500 Votes to claim the accolade after some excellent displays. He started all 6 of their games across the month, scoring 2 and assisting 2 along the way. He is a product of the Aldershot under 19’s youth system.

Another player to look out for will be Brendan Willson who had a month’s loan with the Dolphins in November last year. Brendan made his Hawks return on Boxing Day 2023 as a half time substitute against Farnborough. In June 2024, it was announced that Brendan had penned a new contract with the Hawks ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.

The Hawks are managed by the very experienced Shaun North who joined them in a new role from neighbours and now EFL Championship side Portsmouth FC after working in John Mousinho’s EFL League One title winning side last campaign. Shaun holds a UEFA Pro-Licence, the highest coaching accolade in European football and takes his wealth of experience to the Hawks possessing over 20-years of coaching with Pompey across multiple spells, amongst other coaching and management experience.

There is no doubt that football under the lights at the Black Gold generates a special atmosphere and all Dolphin fans will be hoping that we can start to find the back of the net on a more consistent basis. It is often said that the table starts to settle down after the first 10 fixtures. Given the matches we have played, I don’t think anyone will be too disappointed about where we stand at this time.

Enjoy the game

Neil Wellington.