Non-League Predictions > National League play-offs

[Darran]

For quite a while I thought Wrexham would win the play-offs given how good they were looking and that they were unlikely to beat Stockport and if they had the final at the Racecourse then I would probably back them even though they are odds on. I do think they can beat Notts County or Grimsby at home although it does look to be the harder side of the draw, but away from the Racecourse they look vulnerable. I was waiting to write the preview until after the FA Trophy Final today to see how they would get on at Wembley and they were OK, but no more than that. Maybe the disappointment of losing this will drive them on to make sure they get something out of the season, but on consecutive weekends they have now lost the title whilst being well beaten by Dagenham and lost the FA Trophy Final. Clearly they have the best squad and they deserve to be favourites, but they are too short for me and so I will be looking to the other half of the draw for the winners.

 

As I mention below I think Halifax will win on Tuesday, but even if Chesterfield do get through I think Solihull can beat either of them at home and thus Solihull are the bets for me at 3/1. I wasn't sure about Ardley coming as manager at the start of the season because I thought he under performed at Notts County, but fair play to him as he has managed to finish above his old club in the table. Almost unnoticed they sneaked into 3^rd place and they were only 1 point behind Wrexham at the end. If we just used the last 15 games they would have finished top of the table 1 point in front of Wrexham and Stockport. They also played both those sides over Easter away and got a deserved point at Wrexham whilst only going down to a 90^th minute goal at Stockport. They have been really good in the last few games of the season and I think they have it in them to beat whoever they end up facing (likely Wrexham) at the Olympic Stadium in a couple of weeks time. 

 

Halifax v Chesterfield

As mentioned above I don't have an opinion on tomorrow's game, but I certainly do in Tuesday night's match as Halifax do look a fantastic bet. They won 17 out of 22 games at the Shay during the season and took an impressive 53 points in the process. They aren't prolific in front of goal, but they find a way to win games especially at home. Chesterfield have been woeful since Paul Cook took over as manager as they have gone from title contenders to barely making the play-offs. I know injuries have played a part especially to Tshimanga, but even so Cook has looked clueless and they don't even deserve to be in the play-offs. Tshimanga has already been ruled out of playing a part in them so he can't even rescue them. The one thing I will say is when they played this fixture on Easter Monday and Halifax won 2-0 I did think Chesterfield played quite well, but that is the only game that I have seen them play well since Rowe left. It has become a bit of a free hit for Chesterfield so maybe they might perform better, but on everything we have seen Halifax look a great bet at 6/4 as they really ought to be shorter.

 

Solihull to win promotion 1pt @ 3/1 with Bet365, Betfred and BetVictor (take up to 9/4)

Halifax 3pts @ 6/4 with Bet365 (take up to 11/10)

[harry_rag]

13 minutes ago, Darran said:

I do think they can beat Notts County or Grimsby at home although it does look to be the harder side of the draw, but away from the Racecourse they look venerable.

Respected for their age/wisdom?