Southern League Monday night preview, Digi Mart USA News (United Kingdom): Redditch United host Peterborough Sports at The Valley Stadium tonight in the Southern League Premier Division Central. Redditch came back from 0-3 down last weekend to draw 3-3, with a 92nd-minute free-kick by Dan Sweeney following goals from Alezandro da Silva and William Fielding.
Redditch were beaten 2-1 away at Kettering Town on Saturday, after trailing 2-0 at the break. Tyler Bruck pulled one back on the hour mark, but that was as close as they came, leaving them 14th on 18 points.
Attacker Szhem Whyte-Hall has nine goals from 13 appearances this season.
Peterborough Sports have lost only one of their last 13 league matches and sit sixth, where a win tonight could lift them to fifth. The Turbines are looking to bounce back after a 1-1 draw with bottom-of-the-table Stamford, going behind to an own goal before Luca Miller equalised in the 30th minute.
Striker Leon Lobjoit matches Whyte-Hall’s record of nine goals from 13 league appearances.
The two sides met earlier this season on September 29, when Tyler Bruck opened the scoring. A Michael Richens penalty levelled in the 50th minute, before Joel Shamrock put Redditch back in front seven minutes later.
Harvey Williams struck in the 94th minute for one of his three goals this season, and that was how the match ended at PIMS Park.
In the Southern League Division One South, Swindon Supermarine host Westbury United at The Imagine Cruising Stadium. A home win would put the Spitfires level on points with top-of-the-table Weymouth, although Weymouth hold a 13-goal superior goal difference and have played a game fewer.
Swindon Supermarine have won their last two matches, beating Bristol Manor Farm 1-2 at The Creek and thrashing Melksham Town 6-0 at home on October 31, when five different players scored, including a brace from Marcel Lewis.
Westbury United, who played only two days ago, come into the fixture after a 2-1 win over third-placed Dorchester Town, coming from 0-1 down through goals from Jensen Wakefield in the 60th minute and Ben Starr in the 77th minute. Leighton Thomas is third in the division’s top scorer charts with 10 goals for The White Horse Men, but has gone two games without a goal following a hat-trick in a 4-0 win over Willand Rovers.
The two sides also met on September 29, when Marine’s Joe Shepherd was sent off in the 14th minute and Westbury United went on to win 3-0, with a Joshua Jenkins opener in the 23rd minute and a brace from Ben Starr in the 41st and 67th minutes. A Westbury win tonight would lift them above Dorchester Town into third place, though they will have played two games more.
The night’s headline clash is an all-Southern League FA Cup first-round tie, live on TNT Sports and HBO Max, as Plymouth Parkway host Berkhamsted at Bolitho Park. Parkway beat Chertsey Town 2-0 in the final qualifying round to reach the First Round Proper for the first time, while Berkhamsted are also FA Cup debutants following their formation in 2009.
Parkway will be confident after beating the league leaders 3-1 at home last week, with league top scorer Andrew ‘Rocky’ Neal getting his 12th league goal of the season, having also scored and assisted in the Chertsey victory. Berkhamsted are also in positive spirits after beating Southend United 1-2 at Roots Hall, thanks to an 88th-minute Jeffrey Sekyere header.
Since then the Comrades have lost one and drawn two in the league, and were knocked out of the FA Trophy by Cray Wanderers.
The two clubs have not met in the Premier South this season; their last meeting came on February 7, when Parkway won 2-0 through goals from James Watts-Barciela and Carlo Garside. Kick-off is 19:30, with the Second Round draw taking place ahead of kick-off from 18:30.
