OPPOSITION NOTES- Hungerford Town

After sitting in the relegation zone heading into 2025, Hungerford up until their two most recent results have been one of the best teams in the league and are now ranked outsiders for a potential playoff spot come the end of April.

A run of nine wins in 10 matches with the other result being a draw at another of the best sides in the divison Walton & Hersham had seen the Crusaders climb all the way to seventh albeit they did not have the trickiest run of fixtures in that period.

Two poor results in failing to beat a Poole Town side who have picked up just one victory since November and a 4-0 demolition away to Sholing FC last weekend has put the hosts feet firmly on the ground but their strong run of form will still give them belief they can pick up a result on Saturday.

If Town aim to gatecrash the playoffs they will need to do it the hard way as they currently sit nine points off Dorchester Town in the last playoff spot with fixtures at home to City, AFC Totton and Dorchester on the final day, in addition to a trip to Wales to take on leaders Merthyr Town which will be a real test of their fortunes.

Their defeat away in Hampshire last week was marred in controversy with the away side being reduced to nine men after Rarmani Medford Smith was given a straight red card, with veteran Curtis Angell also given his marching orders after two bookable offences, with both players picking up red cards within 10 minutes of the second half.

While the Crusaders were losing by two goals to nil before the dismissals it stopped any chances of them pulling back a comeback in a weekend whch saw both them and City both lose their unbeaten records in 2025.

Hungerford before drawing 1-1 at home to Poole in their last fixture at their ground Bulpit Lane had won their previous five fixtures down in Berkshire.

That period saw victories over Hanwell Town, Basingstoke Town, Chertsey Town, playoff-chasers Havant and Waterloovile and Sholing FC conceding just twice in those five games.

After 16 games at home, currently Town have the seventh best record in the divison with nine wins, four draws and three wins for a positive goal difference of 17 having scored 34 times and conceded 17 amassing 67% of their total points so far in the Southern Premier Division South.

The fixture between the two sides on Saturday will see Jake Evans return to his old side, in addition to Elis Watts who departed the Crusaders for the Tigers back in January in their first matches back at their old stomping ground.

On the other hand Town feature a former Tigers player of their own in Louis McGory who returned back to Hungerford for a second spell at the club in the summer after leaving City having joined them in 2023 from Town originally.

McGory had two spells in Gloucestershire himself after a one month loan back in 2017 from Forest Green and is currently the Berkshire sides top scorer having netted eight times this season including three in his last four, the same as Watts before he departed to jon the Tigers.

Town's second top scorer is 18-year-old Jose Marquez who is on loan from Gloucestershire rivals Forest Green and has scored five times and their third top scorer is Dawid Regula who has scored four himself.

Hungerford are the joint sixth highest scorers in the league having scored 55 times which is the same amount as Dorchester Town, while having conceded the same amount as Walton & Hersham in the Southern Premier Division South.

Also amongst the Crusaders ranked is former Premier League footballer Jordon Ibe another high profile name in the league having once been a £15million valued player when he moved from Liverpool to AFC Bournemouth having also played for Derby County, Ebbsfleet United and most recently Hayes & Yeading.

In the reverse fixture back on a Tuesday night in September it was City who came out on top at the Tigerturf Stadium with Ben Richards-Everton giving City an early lead, before being pegged back by a future Gloucester City player in Watts mid way through the second half after he scored a stunning solo strike, but second top scorer Brandon Smalley was on hand to score just under 15 minutes from time through a deflected strike into the bottom right corner.

That win at the time was City's fifth in sixth and provided a real platform for their tilt at promotion this season, though they have been pushed down to fourth after Walton & Hersham's win in midweek.

Hungerford Town despite failing to beat Poole and then losing their unbeaten run last weekend will come into Saturday's fixture buyoed in confidence.

Despite the nine point gap to the playoffs looking faily insummoutable they will not be a side on the beach and will be looking to continue another of their incredible runs that they picked up in the last two months to be the gatecrashers of the top five.

If that is not obtainable they will stand themselves for a promotion push next season as they look to get back into the National League South having been relegated in 2023, finishing eighth last season, getting closer than the four points they finished off the top five last season will be an incredible achievment considering where they were come the turn of the year.