MATCH PREVIEW: STAGS TAKE ON CRUSADERS IN BERKSHIRE

HUNGERFORD TOWN vs AFC TOTTON_SLPDS-37_Sat05Apr2025.jpg

VENUE:
Town Ground, Bulput Lane, Hungerford, Berkshire RG17 0AY

AFC TOTTON HEAD TO HUNGERFORD Town this weekend for their latest Southern League Premier Division South encounter.

Last time out, The Stags were held to a one-all draw at home to Dorchester Town, with Sam Magri’s 10^th-minute penalty being cancelled out by Wes Fogden’s equaliser shortly before the half-hour mark.

HUNGERFORD TOWN – THEIR SEASON SO FAR:
Hungerford are currently in seventh place, with 55 points from 37 games played. After losing 1-4 at Chertsey Town on the opening day of the season, The Crusaders won two on the trot at home to Gosport Borough and Taunton Town, before a visit to the Snows Stadium arrested that positive development to the tune of a 1-3 defeat to The Stags, which was followed by a 0-2 loss at home to Swindon Supermarine.

A win in First Round Qualifying for the Emirates FA Cup against Yate Town was followed up by two losses in the league at Wimborne Town and Gloucester City, then a draw in their Second Round Qualifying tie with Winchester City, before Hungerford lost the replay by a single goal. An astonishing result came next as The Crusaders thrashed Plymouth Parkway 9-3 at Bulpit Lane – a real outlier of a result based on their form until that point.

However, it didn’t do much to turn their form around as in their next 12 games Hungerford won only once, while drawing eight and losing three. That sequence included progress through Third Round Qualifying for the Isuzu FA Trophy with a 3-1 home win over Sholing, before Yate Town got their revenge for their earlier FA Cup elimination by winning 3-2 at Bulpit Lane in the First Round Proper.

Hungerford recorded their first league win in 11 games when they defeated bottom-of-the-table Marlow 4-0 in mid-December, but defeats followed at the hands of Gosport, Merthyr Town and Taunton before The Crusaders would taste victory again with a 3-1 win at Swindon Supermarine on New Year’s Day. That win sparked a drastic improvement in form, which saw Hungerford go 11 games without defeat, winning nine and drawing two, to lift them into the top 10 with an outside chance of making the end of season Promotion Play-Offs.

But two losses and three wins in their last five games has tempered that ambition, with their hopes of sneaking into the prized finishing places relying on other results going their way, as well as requiring maximum points until the end of the regular season campaign.

IN THE REVERSE FIXTURE…
AFC Totton made it four wins from four at the Snows Stadium with a convincing 3-1 victory over Hungerford Town (Saturday 24 August 2024). Jimmy Ball’s men took the lead on 13 minutes when Declan Rose’s incisive pass fed Tony LEE, who beat the offside trap and rounded the goalkeeper to place the ball into an empty net. Just before half-time, Totton doubled their tally in superb fashion. The dangerous and tricky Tom Blair cut inside from the left to find Declan ROSE in acres of space roughly 25 yards from goal, before he struck a peach of a curled effort into the top corner. And The Stags put the game out of sight in the second half with another beautiful strike. After Charlie Austin was fouled on the edge of the box, Tony LEE scored his second of the afternoon with a well-placed free-kick into the top-right corner. The Crusaders found a late consolation through Jacob BANCROFT, who punished Luke Hallett's mistake.

STAGS RADIO:
If you can’t make it to Bulpit Lane, you can listen to every kick via StagsRadio on our official X account, brought to you by Benjy Rees and Josh Cole. The space starts at 2:30pm, with pre-match build-up 2:45pm and live commentary commencing when the match kicks-off at 3:00pm.

By Joshua Cole

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