Town pushing to regain pole position in tight title race
Dandy Town will attempt to take back the lead in a tight Premier Division title race when they host struggling Young Men’s Social Club at Goose Gosling Field on Saturday night (9pm).
Kyle Lightbourne’s team regained pole position with a 4-1 demolition of Devonshire Cougars on Tuesday night but were replaced at the summit 24 hours later by fellow title contenders North Village, who prevailed 4-1 over Social Club.
“It’s good to get back to winning ways and we are focused and working hard,” Dante Leverock, the Dandy Town defender, told The Royal Gazette.
Town are favourites to come away with the points but Leverock and his fellow team-mates are not taking their opponents for granted, despite their lowly position in the league.
“Social Club has been a tricky team all season so we are taking every game as a cup final,” he added.
“We know we just need to keep winning to get the league title, so we are focused on executing our game plan and getting another important three points.
“We are just looking to build game-by-game no matter who we play.”
Town striker David Jones Jr, who scored a maiden senior hat-trick in his team’s big win over Devonshire Cougars in their previous outing, will be keen to continue his prolific form against former team Social Club.
The Bluebirds come into the match eighth in the standings on 11 points, two points above the relegation zone.
Elsewhere, Devonshire Colts host relegation threatened Wolves in a Devonshire derby at Police (3pm) in today’s other top flight match-up. Colts are sixth in the standings on 17 points while Wolves are on the bottom with eight points.
Leaders Village head into the weekend on 25 points, two points clear of Dandy Town, who have a game in hand. PHC are third on 22 points.
Village host relegation threatened Hamilton Parish at Bernard Park on Sunday while fellow title contenders PHC are at home to Devonshire Cougars. Parish, the Friendship Trophy champions, are second from the bottom on nine points and Cougars seventh with fourteen.
Paget will face St George’s Colts at Southampton Oval in Sunday’s remaining Premier Division clash. Paget come into the match fifth in the standings with 18 points and St George’s fourth with 22 points.
There are two First Division fixtures scheduled for Sunday, with Southampton Rangers taking on Robin Hood at Southampton Oval and Somerset Eagles hosting leaders X-Roads at White Hill Field. Both games start at 12.30pm.
Due to a shortage of match officials, the match between St David’s and Somerset Trojans at Lord’s on Sunday has been postponed and will be rescheduled at a later date.
Second place Boulevard, who trail leaders X-Roads by four points, have a bye this round.