It’s a real treat to be playing at home on Non-League Saturday and the club have put in a huge amount of effort to make it a very special day for all supporters. A day where the focus is very much on the non-league teams for a change. It will be our pleasure to welcome the players, officials and supporters of Sholing who are based at The Mortgage Decisions Stadium in Southampton.

The Boatmen will consider themselves still in with an outside chance of making the play-offs but it will need a massive effort and an upturn in form with tough home fixtures against Hanwell Town, Taunton Town, Merthyr and Bracknell Town to come. The one guaranteed promotion place and three of the play-off places seem to be pretty much decided with perhaps four sides fighting for the fourth play-off spot, Dorchester, Havant & Waterlooville, Hungerford and Taunton Town.

Sholing are sitting in 9^th place (P35 W12 D9 L14 45 points) and drew their last match, 2-2 at home to Basingstoke. In that match they fell behind as early as the second minute but two goals from defender Harry Taylor put them in front until the 72nd minute when a Basingstoke penalty earned them an away point.  They have taken 10 points from their last six matches putting them in 7^th place in the form table. Top scorer for the club with 15 goals is Michael Folivi. The reverse fixture in October was a goalless draw.

The club are celebrating the call up to Thomas Tuchel’s England squad of their Associate Director and Chelsea defender Levi Colwill.

Manager Paul Doswell was appointed just about a year and a half ago and has enjoyed a great deal of success during his tenure. The Boatmen beat Hamworthy United to secure promotion in the 2023/4 season and finished in a credible position of 15th in their first full season at this level. He has showed plenty of signs that he is aiming to build on this platform after a very successful season. He has previously managed Eastleigh and Sutton United making a very positive impression at both clubs.

For the Dolphins it can’t be understated how important this match is. With us sitting in the relegation places we need to win our four remaining home fixtures against Sholing, Marlow, Swindon Supermarine and Chertsey to stand any chance of pulling away from the bottom end of the table. Our recent form has improved greatly and we have taken five points from our last six fixtures.

It was great to have Charlie Davis back in the side last week on the completion of his suspension. The 28-year-old will be no stranger to our visitors on Saturday as he played for them last season. Charlie started his career at AFC Bournemouth before moving to Poole as a talented teenager in 2013 and stayed at Tatnam for two years making 26 appearances. After spells at Dorchester and Weymouth, he re-joined Poole to pursue more game time. In this spell, Davis made nine appearances for the Dolphins, scoring four times including a hattrick in the Dorset Senior Cup against Swanage Town & Herston. However, during the 2018/19 season, Davis left Poole for Gosport Borough and went on to captain the side. The experienced midfielder joined Salisbury in 2020 where he made 57 appearances over a three-year period which led to him signing for AFC Totton and then Sholing before signing on the dotted line for the Dolphins.

The weather forecast is looking good and everything is set for a very special occasion. So come on down to the BlackGold for non-league football at its best.

Enjoy the game,

Neil Wellington.