Chelmsford City are set to play Wealdstone in the rearranged Isuzu FA Trophy 3rd Round game after the two previous attempts to play the game were postponed by snow and then fog. The game is due to take place on Wednesday 4th January 2023. (KO 7.30pm)
The opposition
Wealdstone sit in 10th place having played 22 games in the Vanarama National League this season. They have won 9, drawn 7 and lost 8, scoring 29 goals and conceding 35 in the league campaign so far which all adds up to 34 league points.
Wealdstone had a brilliant start to the season when they only lost 2 of their first 10 league games. However they had a nightmare spell in October when they lost 6 consecutive games, including a 6-1 home defeat by high-flying Notts County. Since that run though they have only lost 1 of their next 8 including a creditable 0-0 draw against Wrexham.
In terms of players, Wealdstone have former Chelmsford keeper Sam Howes, who played for the Clarets on loan in the 2019-20 season. In defence they have their captain Jack Cook, although he went off injured in Wealdstone’s last game. They also have former Colchester and Aldershot defender Lewis Kinsella, as well as former Braintree and Lincoln defender Sam Habergham.
In midfield they have former Dulwich man Gio McGregor, who scored at Melbourne last season. They also have Nathan Ferguson, who signed from Southend in the summer and also has played for Crawley in the Football League. Experienced Montserrat international Alex Dyer also plies his trade for the Stones, after spending a long time in Sweden with Ostersunds and Elfsborg. They have creative midfielder Max Kretzschmar who also played for Hampton & Richmond and Woking.
Up front Wealdstone have former Scunthorpe and Carlisle striker Olufela Olomola as well as former Colchester and Woking forward Tarryn Allarakhia. Wealdstone lost their top scorer Rhys Browne when he signed for Woking after 7 in his first 13 this season for the Stones.
At the helm for Wealdstone is Stuart Maynard. Maynard, 42, was assistant-manager to Dean Brennan when they worked together at Hemel Hempstead Town, Billericay Town, Kingstonian and also Wealdstone.
Brennan resigned as manager in February 2021 and Maynard was appointed interim, before being appointed permanently in March 2021. Last season under Maynard, Wealdstone finished 16th in the National League, their highest league finish for 35 years, and he signed a new 2-year contract in the summer.
Previous Meetings
Chelmsford would have probably preferred this tie to have been an away draw with the recent record in this fixture! City have lost 5 of their last 7 games at home against the Stones, with a 3-0 win in 2018 when Chris Dickson scoring twice being a rare home win for the Clarets. If you include the pre-season friendly win at Grosvenor Vale this season, the Clarets are unbeaten in their last 7 at Wealdstone, including our last competitive meeting, a 1-0 win just before the season was shortened in 2020 via Covid when Tom Knowles’ goal was enough to give Robbie Simpson his first away win as Chelmsford manager.
Team News
For Chelmsford City, Jamie Yila completes the last game of his 3 game suspension. New signings Reece Grant and Arjanit Krasniqi are unavailable as they were not signed before the original date of the game on December 17th. City manager Robbie Simpson intimated there may be changes from the squad over the festive period with City in the thick of 4 games in 9 days.
Ticket News
Tickets are now available to be purchased in advance of the 7:30pm kick-off on Wednesday 4th January and can be bought by clicking this link.
Adult – £14.07 (includes processing fees)
Senior (65+) – £9.90 (includes processing fees)
Concession – £9.90 (includes processing fees)
Full-Time Student – £5.72 (includes processing fees)
Youth (12-17) – £5.72 (includes processing fees)
Under-12s – Free
Entry can also be purchased at the turnstiles on the night at the Melbourne Community Stadium – we accept both cash & card.
Ticket prices on the night:
Adult – £15
Senior (65+) – £10
Concession – £10
Full-Time Student – £5
Youth (12-17) – £5
Under-12s – Free
A programme will be available to purchase on the day for £3 or a digital subscription to The Claret can be purchased here. Please note the programme on sale is the same one as for the original date of December 17th.
Where to follow the game…
The Club will be only providing coverage of the game on Twitter (@OfficialClarets) using the hashtag #TheClarets.
There will also be live audio commentary from Radio Clarets.
Post-match reports and interviews will be found on the club website, social media and ClaretsTV following the game.
Weather
It set to be a very mild 11 degrees for kickoff and we hope the forecast is going to be correct and it will be a clear night!
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