National League South, Beveree Stadium, Tuesday 28 January, 7:45PM
Got any rest, Terras fans?
Let’s hope the players have – after our last-minute equaliser versus Enfield Town that put our losing run to a much-needed end, we are back in action just three days later for a clash in the capital this evening.
Against an in-form Hampton & Richmond Borough who are playing like a team who are vying for a play-off place.
After a tough start to life under Alan Julian, which saw them win just three games in their opening 13, they have since picked up 28 points in their next 14 contests.
We, on the other hand, lie 14 places and 25 points below ‘The Beavers,’ as we remain bottom of the table.
But with our losing streak finally coming to an end, tonight may see us break down their dam at a crucial point in our season…
HOW TO FOLLOW
We are delighted to announce that the ever-brilliant Ben Ashelford will be on commentary tonight; click HERE to access his in-game thoughts.
Live updates will also be provided across our social media platforms, followed by post-match reaction being uploaded after the final whistle.
HEAD-TO-HEAD…
One thing that may induce confidence for our Terras is our win record against tonight’s opponents.
Out of an admittedly short number of nine contests played versus The Beavers, we have broken their dam four times.
But interestingly, and less exciting for us, this fixture has seen zero draws, The South West London side securing five wins, the most recent subjecting us to one of our 12 one-goal league losses this campaign.
If that doesn’t sound deflating enough, the previous four of these contests have all ended in Hampton wins.
But rest assured, we have been in a similar situation not too long ago and we came out on top.
In more ways than one…
ANOTHER GREAT ESCAPE?
You may remember the 2022-23 season – by the end of January, just past the midway point, we were not doing too well.
So much were our struggles, in fact, that we had only won four times in 25 league games.
This shake form had left us, you guessed it, fighting for survival.
However, one day before February, down travelled a side from South West London to the Bob Lucas Stadium as we looked to save our campaign.
Facing us were a Beavers’ side that were not in the form that they are now, which has seen them win three in their last four league contests.
Here, they were winless in their last seven, as they had survival strategies of their own.
Though few would argue that we are facing a Beavers with a stronger dam tonight, we only need to look back three days to see the intensity in survival six-pointers.
But we took the lead almost straight away when David Sesay blasted the ball into the top-left corner inside just nine minutes.
If that wasn’t exciting enough, Ahkeem Rose doubled our lead just after half-time.
Though Tommy Wood pulled one back with 35 minutes remaining, we held on and won the game.
But we only saw just how vital those three points were just under three months later, when a victory at Dover Athletic kept us in the league on the final day.
Perhaps a match against the Beavers in late January is exactly what we need…
