OPPOSITION NOTES- Walton & Hersham

Walton & Hersham are flying in 2025 as they aim to solidify a playoff spot in the Southern Premier League South having won seven and losing none of their nine matches so far.

The Swans remain one of just four sides to remain unbeaten in the calendar year alongside Merthyr Town, Hungerford Town and opponents Gloucester City and their sustained run of form sees them seven points clear in the race for the top five.

If the season was to end as it was now, the two sides would meet again in the playoff semi final at the TigerTurf Stadium with the away side currently sitting in fourth place in the league and a win would see them pull three points behind City with a game in hand over the Tigers in addition to having a superior goal difference.

Over the past 10 games only Hungerford have a better record than the 23 points that the Surrey based side have picked up as the run in closes in.

The highly ambitious side who boast 'the youngest owners in football' will be aiming for their fourth promotion since taking stewardship in June 2019, after finishing seventh and just three points adrift of the playoffs in 2023/24 look set to better that finish under new boss Billy Rowley who was appointed in May last year.

Their dash for the playoff spots has been bolstered by four consecutive away successes before the trip to Gloucestershire having tastted success in the road to Sholing FC, defeating Chertsey into injury time, a huge last gasp victory away to playoff rivals Havant and Waterloovile and Gosport Borough and will be looking to make it five on the spin in a game that is destined for goals.

Their improved form on their travels ensures they currently have the best fourth away record in the league with seven wins, three draws and five defeats so far and a positive goal difference of plus four to collate those 24 points so far, only the top three have a better record than Walton & Hersham

Along with Marlow and Basingstoke Town, Walton are one of just three sides to have goals in every single game so far this season that has seen them be the league's third highest scorers with 64 in their 31 matches so far.

Only the league leaders Merthyr and Marlow rooted to the the bottom of the table have been involved in more goals than Walton with 107 goals so far.

Their defence has been their achilles heel with every other side in the top eight having conceded less than their 43 goals, having kept just six clean sheets so far this season though they did shut out Tiverton Town last time out in their 3-0 hammering at the Elmbridge Xcel Sports Hub.

Prolific goal scorer Dawid Rogalski who moved from Marlow in the summer is currently the away side's top scorer with 16 goals, but the player to look out for is their second top scorer Johl Powell.

Charlton youth product Powell has scored an incredible nine goals in his last seven games for the Swans including two past the 90 minute mark, one of those being the late winner away to Chertsey Town.

Back in November an absolute classic saw an eight goal thriller where the sides draw 4-4 in a match impacted by horrendous wind conditions and torrential rain.

The hosts took a 4-0 lead in the first half after an own goal by City's Jared Thompson that was affected by the torrential conditions with goals from Rogalski, Powell and Mason Obeng succumbing City to a four goal deficit to make up in the second half.

With the weather only getting worse and City powered by the wind they made an extraordinary comeback kicked off by Tyrone Duffus with 25 minutes to go before Kieran Phillips and a double by Joe Hanks including a 92 minute equaliser ensured both sides got a share of the spoils.

Backed by incredible ambitious young owners and an eye on social media including over 1 million followers on Tiktok, Walton and Hersham are set for success and they seem to be playing their way into contention for promotion if they continue their brilliant form that has seen them remain unbeaten so far.

With a squad beginning to gel and securing wins late on in the day Walton and Hersham remain a huge threat and while automatic promotion looks off the cards they will be a difficult opponents for whoever they play to secure promotion to the National League South in what looks to be an incredibly pivotal weekend.

AFC Totton hosts Merthyr Town in a matchup between first and second, but City taking on fourth placed Walton is more than just an undercard fixture and while weather conditions do not seem to be as tricky on Saturday, goals and high-octane action is pretty much guaranteed.