Our second journey of the week up the M3 ends with another first-ever visit, this time to play Mark Harper’s Curfews. You may recall that in the reverse fixture in early November, Matty Burrows gave us a lead just before the interval which was overturned by a brace from Jack Mazzone and one by Lewis Flatman in the second-half.

Like The Magpies, The Curfews were promoted at the end of last season: Tim’s team won SL Division One South while Harper’s heroes ran away with the Isthmian South Central title with just one defeat, bagging 100 points and scoring 103 goals.

The Curfews started the season well, but a plethora of cup ties, see a couple of paragraphs below, seems to have taken its toll as they, like The Magpies, have slipped down the table of late. Chertsey are currently 15th with a W9 D4 L14 GF 48 GA 55 record. Interestingly, they’ve gathered more league points on their travels than at their Alwyns Lane home where their record is W4 D3 L6. Goals were a feature of their successful league campaign last time, as it is this time around, albeit at both ends, with 103 goals being scored in their 27 games. They’ve failed to score in only six of those, but at the other end of the pitch have only kept three clean-sheets. Leading scorer is that man Mazzone with 20 to his credit in the league. Starting with their visit to The Wyatt Homes Stadium, Mazzone is on a run in which if he scores one then inevitably more follow, including a couple of hat-tricks.

Since Christmas, Chertsey’s three home fixtures have yielded one of each possible result: a 2-2 draw with Tiverton, a 2-1 win over Poole, and on 25th January, surprisingly, a 5-2 loss to Marlow. They’ve played four games on the road during that time: a 2-1 victory at Hanwell, a 1-0 loss at Supermarine, a 2-1 loss at Plymouth Parkway on Saturday, and on Tuesday evening a 3-0 reverse at top of the current form table Hungerford. As a result of defeats in their last four games, The Curfews are at the other extreme of that form table.

As mentioned earlier, Chertsey had good runs this season in both FA competitions. In the FA Cup they won three ties before bowing out to Sutton United in 4Q in front of a home crowd of 2,134. In the FA Trophy they won four times, beating Bath City and Dagenham & Redbridge, and reached the last 32 before being thumped at Aldershot where on loan Jonny Stuttle bagged a brace for the Shots. The Curfews have a habit of doing well in cup competitions, having won the FA Vase in 2019.

Wimborne have taken just two points from their last four games: a 2-2 draw at Taunton before the 1-0 loss at Tiverton, Saturday’s 2-1 home loss to Bracknell, and Tuesday’s come-back draw 2-2 at tenth-placed Hanwell in front of an encouragingly large contingent of travelling supporters. Although those results have seen The Magpies slip to 18th with a W8 D6 L12 GF 32 GA 43 record, on our travels it’s W2 D3 L8, Tim’s team have been close to a greater return for their efforts. Drew Eccott-Young made a much-awaited return on Tuesday amidst a number of good performances across the pitch, with goals from Matty Burrows and Jack Lovell.

There’s three places and one point between The Curfews and The Magpies going into this crucial game. Both teams will want to get something from it. If you can make it to Surrey on Saturday afternoon to support the boys, you could be in for a cracking, competitive game. But have plenty of layers with you as the forecast is for it be a trifle nippy.

Chertsey’s ground: Alwyns Lane, Chertsey, Surrey  KT16 9DW      approx 85 miles

There are places available on the team coach – contact Paula if you’re interested.

Admission: Adults £12, concessions £8, U18s £3

Average att: 481

Weather forecast: cloudy; 5oC; 30% chance of rain.