Current Blue Square South Table - As of 29th December HOME AWAY P W D L GF GA W D L GF GA GD PTS CURRENT ODDS* 1 Braintree Town 16 6 0 2 16 6 4 3 1 13 5 18 33 9/2 ------------------------------------------------------- 2 Bromley 17 3 5 0 10 7 6 1 2 16 17 2 33 5/1 3 Farnborough 18 4 4 1 14 9 5 1 3 18 11 12 32 6/1 4 Dover 16 3 3 3 18 14 6 0 1 17 7 14 30 6/1 5 Ebbsfleet United 15 3 2 2 11 7 5 3 0 13 6 11 29 11/2 ------------------------------------------------------- 6 Welling 17 6 1 1 19 7 4 2 3 16 15 13 28 12/1 7 Chelmsford 14 5 1 0 13 1 3 2 3 14 17 9 27 6/1 8 Bishop's Stortford 18 3 1 6 7 20 5 1 2 13 10 -10 26 40/1 9 Eastleigh 16 4 1 3 14 9 3 3 2 12 9 8 25 20/1 10 Weston-S-Mare 20 6 2 3 19 11 1 2 6 11 24 - 5 25 125/1 11 Woking 17 3 3 3 12 11 3 2 3 7 10 - 2 23 20/1 12 Havant and W 15 2 2 3 9 10 4 2 2 12 7 4 22 10/1 13 Staines Town 16 3 3 3 12 12 2 3 2 11 9 2 21 50/1 14 Maidenhead Utd 17 2 2 4 7 14 3 3 3 11 14 -10 20 150/1 15 Dorchester 16 2 2 4 7 11 3 2 3 12 9 - 1 19 100/1 16 Hampton & Richmond 16 2 2 4 10 15 2 5 1 9 8 - 4 19 66/1 17 Basingstoke Town 15 3 1 4 11 12 1 3 3 2 6 - 5 16 100/1 18 Dartford 16 2 3 1 12 10 1 3 6 9 17 - 6 15 50/1 19 Thurrock 17 2 4 3 13 16 0 2 6 7 15 -11 12 - ------------------------------------------------------- 20 Lewes 18 2 2 4 7 11 1 1 8 8 17 -13 12 - 21 Boreham Wood 16 2 3 4 18 18 0 2 5 5 15 -10 11 - 22 St Albans 16 0 3 5 6 14 1 4 3 9 17 -16 10 - *odds courtesy of bluesq.com each way bets on 3 places to a 1/4 odds Top Seven League record (playing each other so far) P W D L GF GA W D L GF GA GD PTS 1. Dover Athletic 5 1 1 1 10 8 2 0 0 4 1 5 10 2. Ebbsfleet Untied 5 1 1 1 4 2 1 1 0 3 2 3 8 3. Braintree Town 5 2 0 2 7 4 0 1 0 0 0 3 7 4. Welling United 5 1 0 0 3 2 0 2 2 5 10 -4 5 5. Farnborough 6 1 1 1 6 5 0 1 2 3 9 -5 5 6. Bromley 4 1 1 0 3 2 0 0 1 0 2 -1 4 7. Chelmsford City 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 6 11 -5 3Top of the table and current favourites are Braintree Town. The Iron have a good home record of six wins from eight games. The two defeats have come against 2nd placed Bromley (0-2) and 4th placed Dover Athletic (1-2) with their only defeat on the road coming at 15th placed Dorchester Town (0-1). Rod Stringer's side face a gruelling 4 games in 12 days at the start of February which could be critical in their race for the Championship. They face 18th placed Dartford home and away along with trips to Dover Athletic and Welling United. The Darts are a better side than their current league position says and Dover are well in the title race having beaten three the five top seven teams they have played so far as the above mini-table shows. The Wings have one the best home records in the division so will be well up for the Essex side visiting South of the River.
Bromley are in 2nd place going into 2011 and are currently 5/1 to win the Championship. Owner and Chairman Jerry Dolke recently put a message out on the Bromley FC website regarding the fact the club have not had a home game in nearly eight weeks. This combined with the decline in revenue due to the terrible weather and the news the club suffered a burglary in early December where extensive damage was caused to the sports bar and Glemnet Suite along with other parts of the Hayes Lane ground have obviously put a dent in the club's finances. Mr Dolke has invited suggestions for fundraising ideas from fans to email him at the club. Bromley's have only played four league games over November and December although they do have a rearranged fixture this Thursday 30th December at home to Maidenhead United to complete. Their last game came on the 11th December when they had a "Weston" (cockneyrhymingslang.co.uk rates as more Mockney than Cockney but the cold end likes it!!!) at Weston-Super-Mare losing 7-0.
Last season's Zamaretto Champions and the 2008/09 Ryman League Champions are next. Farnborough and Dover Athletic are both well placed to be involved in the title race as their 6/1 odds show.
Ebbsfleet United who were relegated from the Blue Square Premier last season are 11/2 for the title and are the only team without a defeat on the road so far. January is a big month for Liam Daish's side as they face Braintree Town, Bromley and Dover Athletic. The cold end thinks two wins out of these three games would put them right up in contention for the title.
The cold end is never a good tipper but thinks seventh placed Chelmsford City are in a very good position to make a challenge for the title. They have only won once out of the four games they have played against fellow top seven sides but that was at Dover Athletic and so in turn out of their remaining away games only two come against current top seven sides in Bromley and Ebbsfleet United. They have yet to entertain a top seven side at home where they are unbeaten winning 5 out of 6 games and letting in only one goal. They also have games in hand over all the team above them and they are only six points off the top of the table. Glenn Pennyfather's side also has lots of experience in being at the top of the division.
At the bottom of the table it's been a miserable season for St Albans City. They haven't won a league game at Clarence Park in eleven games with their last home league win coming on 13th March 2010 in a 1-0 win against Thurrock. They have only scored six league goals at home in the eight games played so far, three of which came in one game against Weston-Super-Mare who scored four and won the game. Their only league win came on the 18th September against Havant & Waterloville (0-1 away). Since then they have lost six of seven league games. All is not yet lost as they are still in touch with the teams above them but if their terrible form continues it could be relegation at the end of the season. A massive relegation six pointer game takes place this Saturday when The Saints (22nd place) make the short trip to 21st placed Boreham Wood. Steve Castle's side have five home league games in January against Maidenhead United, Bromley, Dorchester Town, Eastleigh and Lewes, the results of which could prove highly important in their battle to beat the drop.
Boreham Wood, Thurrock and Lewes join St Albans City in the club's struggling at the bottom of the table.
Thurrock didn't record a win in the league until the 16th November when Staines Town were beaten 2-1 at home. This victory came on the 15th game of the season after Hakan Hayrettin left his post as manager of the club. Greg Lincoln has since taken over in the hot-seat and in doing so has become the youngest boss the three Blue Square divisions. A player Enfield Town fans will know well in pacey winger Joao Carlos has recently signed from Ryman North Brentwood Town and has been on the bench for the last few games.
Another former Ryman North player albiet for only a handful of games has been signed by Seventh placed Bishop's Stortford. Walid Matata, who signed after spending a short spell with Enfield Town after joining from Billericay Town, will be looking to fire the goals in to lift his new side into play-off contention. The Blues have only scored seven goals in their ten home league games so far.
After only a small number of games have been played over the last month due to the big freeze it's looking like a very exciting season in the BSS. Just 14 points separate table-toppers Braintree Town and 16th placed Hampton and Richmond Borough with a large number of team capable of reaching the play-offs there is still all to play for.
Here are what the cold end thinks are key forthcoming games in January and February -
Saturday 1st January
Boreham Wood v St Albans City (KICK OFF 12noon)
A massive relegation six pointer local derby at Meadow Park.
Dover Athletic v Bromley
4th plays 2nd. A victory for the home side would see them leapfrog their visitors in the league table due to their superior goal difference.
Monday 3rd January
Braintee Town v Ebbsfleet United
1st v 5th. Important game for both sides to get a result from.
Tuesday 11th January
Bromley v Chelmsford City
City will want to get a result in this one to push up into the play off zone
Saturday 15th January
Farnborough v Dover Athletic
Another important clash between two championship/play off contenders
Saturday 22nd January
Ebbsfleet United v Bromley
Welling United v Dover Athletic
The above two matches involve four teams all in the play off/championship shake up.
Tuesday 25th January
Ebbsfleet United v Thurrock
A North v South, Kent v Essex derby. Ebbsfleet will need to win to keep the pressure on at the top of the league wherea Thurrock will need to gain something in their fight for relegation.
Saturday 29th January
Boreham Wood v Maidenhead United
Dover v Ebbsfleet United
St Albans City v Lewes
One game is a play-off clash where Ebbsfleet tavel to Kent rivals Dover Athletic. Boreham Wood host Maidenhead United who could with a few defeats be pulled into the basement battle for survival. St Albans City v Lewes at Clarence Park is yet another huge relegation six pointer!!
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