PREVIEW | Southport FC V Spennymoor Town

31st August 2018

PREVIEW | Southport FC V Spennymoor Town

Five defeats in the opening seven games makes August a month to forget for Southport as they hope to turn things around in September starting with a home meeting against Spennymoor Town.

Southport are currently sit in 20th place in the National League North, meanwhile Spennymoor are eight places above in 12th place and five points better off.

Whilst The Moors have only won one more game than Liam Watson’s side, they have been a lot more solid, drawing three of their opening seven and only losing two.

Our Visitors So Far

Despite that, it wasn’t a great start for Jason Ainsley’s side, going without a win in the opening five games and drawing their first three.

After a goalless stalemate against Chester on the opening day, they followed that up with a 2-2 draw against Darlington in their first home game, before one of the stand out matches of the season against Altrincham, with both sides scoring four each.

The County Durham side came from behind on three occasions to ensure the points were shared between the two sides.

That epic draw was followed by back-to-back defeats against high flyers Bradford Park Avenue and Telford, who both currently sit second and third in the league respectively.

They have since recovered from that spell with back-to-back victories in their previous two matches.

Their first win of the season came in an away tie against Boston United.

Goals in each half from Ramshaw and Taylor ensured a 2-0 win and three precious points for the team that finished one place off the playoffs last season.

They followed that up with another 2-0 win two days later against FC United of Manchester.

Taylor was on the scoresheet once against, giving his side the lead from the penalty spot, his fourth of the season already.

His start to the campaign makes the striker look certain to replicate or even improve on his 19 goals from last season.

He isn’t the only threat, with Anderson and Boyes popping up with three goals and two goals respectively and will certainly cause worries for the Port defence.

Last Season

These players were crucial in both of Spennymoor’s 2-1 victories over Southport last season.

Glen Taylor punished a defensive mistake in the fifth minute of added time to steal the points for his side in the first meeting at the Merseyrail Community Stadium last year.

The Sandgrounders thought they’d got a point after a late equaliser from Sampson to cancel out a 20-yard strike from David Foley, but The Moors fought to the end.

In the reverse tie, Spennymoor got over the disappointment of failing to finish in the top seven by sealing another 2-1 over Southport to finish the season on a high.

Ramshaw and Anderson were on target that day, and all four of the goal scorers against Southport last season will need to be watched again.

Spennymoor will certainly be a tough test, but there’s still time to turn things around.

Ticketing

Fans can purchase tickets online for this fixture up until 8pm on Friday (the day before the game) by clicking here.

Please remember the club operate cashless turnstiles. So if you don’t have an online ticket, ticket in advance or Season Ticket, you will have to visit the Club Shop on Haig Avenue to purchase a ticket before entering through the turnstile.

The Club Shop will also be open as usual tomorrow, 2-6pm (Friday 31 August) when match-day programmes and tickets will be on sale.

Further Details

The Club Shop will close at 2:55pm and the turnstiles will close at 3:15pm for Saturday fixtures that kick-off at 3pm.

Match tickets will be on sale in-between these times in the 1881 Lounge.

Written by Amos Wynn