Its back to the BlackGold on Saturday for the Dolphins after two tough away matches when we will welcome Winchester City who themselves, are desperate to keep away from the relegation places. In those two away fixtures we earned 2 valuable points and scored four goals but, perhaps more importantly, we really started to show the exciting brand of football that Pat & Joe want to bring to the club.
We are down in 19th place (P33 W7 D10 L16 31 points) with just 5 home and 4 away matches to play. The reverse fixture at The Charters Community Stadium in October was a match full of goalscoring opportunities, but both keepers took credit for the low scoring draw. We went into the last few minutes of the match 1-0 up, thanks to an Antonio Diaz strike, until the referee awarded the home side a penalty. It was no great surprise that the ex-Dolphin keeper Luke Cairney sprinted the length of the pitch to take control of proceedings. He scored to give his side a share of the points.
A player who has quietly gone about his work in a very professional manner is our technically gifted left sided defender Christos Batzelis who came through the youth ranks at Watford and Swansea. Last season, he spent the campaign at New Salamis and impressed before signing for Step Four side Biggleswade Town at the start of this season. He is a highly thought of prospect who is providing us with quality and depth in the full back/wing back area. Since joining the Dolphins, he has had an instant impact and has quickly become a vital part of the back line.
Winchester are currently just above the relegation zone in 17th place (P33 W9 D9 L15 36 points) and come into the game on the back of the very impressive 1-0 away win at Havant & Waterlooville last Saturday. They have picked up 22 points on the road and taken 5 points from their last 5 games. However, they are conceding many goals, only Marlow 84 and Tiverton 63 have let in more than the Citizens 60.
The Citizens are managed by Craig Davis who joined them from Fleet Town. He took over as Interim Manager until the end of the 2016-17 season before taking over the reins permanently. His playing career started off as a pro at Cardiff City before spells at Bashley, Salisbury, Gosport Borough and AFC Totton. Has won both the Southern League South and West and Premier as a player.
We will need no introduction to ex Dolphins Luke Cairney (GK) and Ollie Blamer (ST)
As we enter the business end of the season every point will count as we look to climb the few places necessary to avoid spending the last few weeks of the campaign fighting relegation. With the table being so congested a couple of wins will take us towards the middle of the league.
The club has announced that there will be free admission for all ladies and girls under the Her Game Too initiative.
The forecast is for more warm sunshine, so come on down to the BlackGold for non-league football at its best.
Enjoy the game.
Neil Wellington.
