Darran Posted December 9, 2023 Share Posted December 9, 2023 Aveley v Hungerford I watched a bit of the Aveley game against Welling on Monday night and when Welling had their keeper sent off I thought they would win quite comfortably. The player who they put in goal looked pretty ropey when he failed to deal with a cross along the floor in what was a slightly bizarre 2nd goal. Aveley struggled in the 2nd half though and in the end conceded again and ended up with just a point. This came on the back off losing 4-3 on Saturday to Farnborough, a side who hadn't won away all season, having been 3-1 up. I just get the feeling that after their very strong start they are beginning to reach their natural level squad wise and that for me gives Hungerford a chance here. They are in the play-offs in their division and haven't lost in 9 games in the league. They knocked out Truro in the previous round and could well knock out another NLS side here. Barnet v Maidstone Two sides I took on last week in the FA Cup unsuccessfully with Barnet getting a draw late on (which they by all accounts did deserve) and Maidstone getting a victory over a disappointing Barrow. I'm pretty keen on Maidstone here because I think they will be taking this more seriously than Barnet will. Barnet have their replay live on TV on Tuesday night and given the winner plays Eastleigh it is a really good chance to reach the 4th Round. They will surely be putting in their effort for that and of course the league campaign and making sure they finish in the top 3. I think Brennan will rest players for this with the replay and a busy Christmas schedule in mind. Maidstone don't have another game until the following Saturday so there is no real reason why they would rest players and no doubt they will want to go and cause another Cup upset. Chippenham v Gloucester Fair bit on the line here as both sides have players who used to play for the other team and Gloucester's manager used to manage Chippenham. As I put last week ahead of the Chester game which was called off, Gloucester's last two performances have seen a big improvement which were a 3-0 win over Braintree in this and a 4-2 win over Spennymoor in the league. They do still have to prove they can do it away, but I think they are over priced to win this given those last two efforts. Curzon Ashton v Macclesfield I know Curzon are 6th in the National League North at the moment, but I think you can make a case for Macclesfield having a stronger side than their hosts. They have done well since Alex Bruce took over and are scoring lots of goals as well. They put 4 past Alfreton in the previous round which made up for the fact Alfreton had beaten them in the FA Cup earlier in the season. Curzon are unbeaten in their last 5 league games, but they haven't had the hardest fixtures in the world and this will be a tough test for them. I think Macclesfield are way over priced for this. Dagenham & Redbridge v Peterborough Sports Taking a bit of a flyer here, but Dagenham haven't been overly convincing at home so far this season and Sports have been in good form on the whole in recent weeks. In the last 10 games form table they are 5th and I think they are the type of side who could potentially beat a misfiring side like Dagenham. They have only won 3 at home in the league, whilst losing the other 8 games and that has to be concerning so I give Sports a chance of causing an upset. Oldham v Mickleover Taking even a bigger flyer here, but given how poor Oldham were against Ebbsfleet in their last game I will take a chance that high flying Mickleover can cause an upset. I'm not sure how seriously Mellon will take the FA Trophy and he might use the game to rest some of his first team, even so they are still very up and down regarding their performances. Fair to say Mickleover aren't in as strong form as they were earlier in the season and they have only won once in their last 7 league games, but they had an impressive 3-1 win at Spennymoor in the previous round. Obviously Oldham are the most likely winners, but at a huge price it is worth taking a chance on Mickleover. Prices from Thursday 6pm Hungerford 1pt @ 15/4 with Paddy Power and Betfair (21/5 with Coral and take up to 3/1) Maidstone 2pts @ 4/1 with Paddy Power, Betfair and Betfred (19/5 with Hills and take up to 5/2) Gloucester 1pt @ 29/10 with Paddy Power and Betfair (take up to 2/1) Macclesfield 2pts @ 100/30 with Paddy Power and Betfair (take up to 2/1) Peterborough Sports 1pt @ 9/2 with Paddy Power, Betfair, William Hill, Betfred and Bet365 (take up to 7/2) Mickleover 1pt @ 15/2 with Skybet, Paddy Power, Betfair and William Hill (take up to 6/1) Bedlam, G1dders, freddie01 and 5 others 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yossa6133 Posted December 9, 2023 Share Posted December 9, 2023 (edited) Maidstone now 11/2 with Skybet! Barnet playing a strong team apparently. Edited December 9, 2023 by yossa6133 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darran Posted December 9, 2023 Author Share Posted December 9, 2023 6 hours ago, yossa6133 said: Maidstone now 11/2 with Skybet! Barnet playing a strong team apparently. Yes sadly they played a very strong side which surprised me even so I’m still a bit surprised Maidstone were beaten quite so easily but clearly wouldn’t have been such a strong bet in the circumstances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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