Match Preview

Kidlington will look to return to winning ways this weekend as we welcome current league leaders Bedford Town to Yarnton Road tomorrow. For a game so important at both ends off the table, with Kidlington looking to pull away from the bottom four teams, whilst Bedford Town look to extend the gap at the top of the league.

It’s not been a good week for Kidlington as a trip away last Saturday to local rivals Thame United ended in a 3-1 defeat and then also on Tuesday night a trip over to promotions chasing AFC Dunstable saw another 2-0 defeat. Kidlington will look tomorrow to find the form they found in January having gone unbeaten in the league and taking vital points in the pursuit of safety. Even with the last two results in mind, we can think positive as we welcomed back Striker Stephen Robertson returns after missing the last 7 games due to injury and he was back amongst the goals, unfortunately it was only a late consolation goal but its a good sign of what is to come. Although losing last time out on Saturday and Tuesday, our league position hasn't changed as we stay in 16th place, with 24 points on the board after 27 games played and we still sit one point clear of 17th placed Hertford Town and 18th placed Kempston Rovers. Just above Kidlington in 15th are Barton Rovers who moved to 30 points on Tuesday with a win against St Neots Town.

Thoughts From Ben Sadler:
Another tough game vs the clear title favourites.
We have had a tough run of fixtures and were missing five key players in the midweek defeat at Dunstable. Today we should welcome back Titch, Liam, Robbo and hopefully Harry H, though Brad Cox remains out.
We will need to be organised but also need to pose a threat.
COYGs

Our opponents tomorrow Bedford town come into the game having not lost since the 23/11/2021 where they lost 1-0 to fellow title contenders Berkhamsted. In the last five games Bedford town have managed to win four out of the five games, only dropping points in a 2-2 draw with Thame United. Also within this time they have netted fifteen goals and only conceded five goals. Also Bedford Town are the only team currently with the two players in the top ten of Golden boot race, Connor Tomlinson sits 10th currently on 12 goals for the season and Jermaine Howe sits 3rd currently on 19 goals for the season. The current first place player Bernard Christie who is on 21 for the season, unfortunately added 2 more "20th and 21st" against Kidlington on Tuesday night. Bedford town currently sit at the top of the table having played 27 games and accumulating 64 points, The closest challenge is currently all Berkhamsted having only played 26 games and sit just five points behind going into tomorrow’s round of fixtures.

Head to Head:
Earlier in the season when Kidlington traveled to Bedford the game ended in a 3-0 win for Bedford Town. Unfortunately Kidlington have never beaten Bedford Town on four occasions and haven't even managed a draw. Losing all for games by 2-0 or more.

Tomorrow Game is being Covered by Carl Catling Media. Check out his coverage here /www.carlcatlingmedia.co.uk and be sure to follow his socials for updates and a special preview video with Ben Sadler.

All statistics are from https://southern-football-league.co.uk