Match Preview – Wimborne Town vs Cribbs

 

Well, we always thought that this season was going to be an exciting one, and that’s just how it’s turning out. Twelve games left, and there’s just one point separating the three teams fighting it out for the one automatic promotion place. The remaining fixtures for Wimborne (on 50 points) are seven at New Cuthbury, and five on the road; for Frome (49 points) it’s five at home and seven away; and for Saturday’s visitors, Cribbs (49 points), it’s also five at home and seven away. Wimborne’s home fixtures include games against Evesham (4th) as well as Frome (2nd) and Cribbs (3rd).

 

Richard Luffman’s Cribbs are having a terrific first season at Step 4. They won promotion as Hellenic Premier Champions last season with a W32 D4 L2 record, ahead of Malvern Town. What’s even more impressive is that, in those 38 games, Cribbs conceded a miserly fifteen goals. And they’ve brought that remarkable defensive record into the Southern League, where they have the best defensive record in our division – only 24 goals conceded in their 24 league games.

 

Want some more stats? After losing 1-2 at Willand in their fifth league game of the season on Sept 30th, Cribbs went on a 16-game unbeaten run, winning eleven & drawing five, which ended just two weeks ago at The Lawns against Mousehole (1-2). That was only their third defeat in the league this season, the other was a surprising 4-5 at Tavistock, and all three losses were by a single goal. Cribbs have not been beaten by a team currently in the top eight in our division: at home they’ve beaten Wimborne (2-1), Frome (1-0), Bideford (2-0), BMF (1-0), Bemerton (1-0) and Yate (2-1), and drawn with Evesham (0-0); on the road they’ve beaten Bideford (2-1) & Bemerton (2-0), and drawn with Frome (0-0) and Evesham (1-1).

 

 

In the FA competitions Cribbs won through three rounds in both the FA Cup and FA Trophy.

 

Since the start of 2024, Cribbs have won four, drawn three and lost one of their eight fixtures to give them an overall W14 D7 L3 GF 38 GA 24 record; on their travels it’s W5 D4 L2. The speedy home-grown talent David Duru has scored twice this month, while Jake Brown bagged four in January.

 

After Saturday’s 2-0 win at in-form Yate, when Jack Lovell scored and made a goal, Wimborne are still at the top of the tree, largely thanks to being unbeaten at New Cuthbury where they’ve won 9 and drawn 2. Their overall league record is now W15 D5 L4 GF 50 GA 26 – second highest scorers in the division, and second best defence. Recent loan signing Matty Burrows also scored at Yate, to follow-up his first for the Club in the Dorset Senior Cup win over Weymouth on the 3G. Manager Tim Sills will once again be without Jez Bedford, Connor Cocklin and Sam Roberts, but will have plenty of talented options going forwards as the Magpies look to breach that determined Cribbs defence.

 

 

This has all the ingredients for a cracking league game between first and third in the division, with two different playing styles: Wimborne’s creative passing game against a rock-solid defence with speed on the counter-attack. In the reverse fixture three months ago in Bristol, goals by Duru and Harris Feltham were enough to give Cribbs victory despite Morgs’ late score and subsequent siege on the home goal. That was the first-ever competitive game between the teams. A large crowd and enthusiastic vocal support for Tim’s team could make all the difference for this second meeting at New Cuthbury.

 

This is a game you won’t want to miss – after all, it’s what Saturday afternoons were made for!

 

With this being a top-of-the-table clash, there could be another large crowd. If you are travelling by car and park on the nearby streets, please do so respectfully to our neighbours.

Admission: adults £12, concessions £8, U16s £5, U13s £2.

A packed printed programme, including the return of “Chuckle Corner”, will be on sale.

Weather forecast: sunny intervals & showers; 8oC; 40% chance of rain.

There’s plenty of rain in the weather forecast for the rest of this week, so do check the Club’s social media in case of a pitch inspection.