Chelmsford City continue their travels in the Vanarama National League South as they face Havant & Waterlooville on Saturday 11th February, 7.30pm kickoff.
The opposition
Havant & Waterlooville sit in 3rd place after 28 games in the National League South this season. They have won 16, drawn 5 and lost 7, scoring 57 goals and conceding 39 in the league campaign so far which all adds up to 53 league points so far. Havant had a flying start to the season, in which they went unbeaten in the league until they lost 1-0 at home to Oxford City in late October. They then had a poor December in which they lost 3 out of their 4 league games that month, with all 3 losses being at home. They then had a 3 match unbeaten run, but now go into this fixture after back-to-back league losses. Havant’s home form has been shaky of late with only 3 wins in their last 11 home fixtures in all competitions.
In terms of players, Havant also have a Chelsea loanee in goal in the shape of England Under 19 international Teddy Sharman-Lowe, who joined the Hawks on the same day that Eddie Beach joined the Clarets.
In defence, they have their captain and former Oxford City man Joe Oastler, who also appeared for Torquay and Aldershot amongst others. They also have former Dagenham & Dover full-back Josh Passley with talented youngster Joe Newton set to line up on the left hand side of defence.
In midfield, a standout name is former Chelmsford City player Charlie Ruff. Ruff had a fantastic spell in Essex, scoring 7 in 20 games, but left to join Havant last November, and he has continued his scoring form for the Hawks. They also have Jake McCarthy, the former Weymouth man has 4 goals against the Clarets in his career so he will need to be watched. They have also brought in former Hampton & Richmond midfielder Tyrell Miller-Rodney and they also have youngster Ethan Burnett on loan from Reading.
Havant have a number of options up front, including 14 goal striker Muhammadu Faal and 12 goal ex-Oxford City forward James Roberts, who also has 4 goals against City in his previous meetings. They supplemented this forward line with the signing of Worthing striker Callum Kealy on Thursday, who scored a hat-trick against Havant in December and also scored the previous week in Chelmsford’s win away at Worthing.
Havant’s manager is 56 year old Paul Doswell. Doswell led Sutton up to the National League and to the FA Cup 5th Round and was boss at the Ambers for just under 11 years. He took over at Havant in April 2019 and led them to the playoff semi-finals in his first season in charge, where they were defeated by Dartford.
Previous Meetings
City lost 4-3 to Havant in a thriller in August at Melbourne, in what was the Clarets first defeat of the season. It was also City’s 4th consecutive defeat against the men from Hampshire. The last time Chelmsford beat Havant was in the FA Trophy, with current City manager Robbie Simpson scoring the last-minute winner in December 2019. Mickey Spillane also scored a last-minute equaliser the last time we picked up points at Westleigh Park, so maybe our management team need to get their boots back on for us to pick up points in this fixture! City’s last win at Havant was a nailbiting 1-0 win very near the end of the 2014-15 season, a result which arguably relegated Havant from the National League South and caused the Clarets to stay up. Reece Prestedge scored the only goal just before half-time.
Team News
City have Dave Winfield and Henry Ochieng suspended due to their red cards picked up against Hungerford in City’s last away game. Cameron James is also suspended after picking up 10 bookings and so will miss the home game v Slough as well. New signing Ben Brookes is available after being suspended and cup-tied for last weekend’s games. Liam Trotter and Jamie Yila could return after missing recent games with injury. In goal Eddie Beach missed last Saturday’s defeat but Jacob Marsden stepped in to perform in case the Chelsea loanee cannot feature again.
Havant have their own suspensions with defender Joash Nembhard and striker Danny Wright both starting a 3 game ban. Defenders Paul Rooney and Ben Shroll are also injury doubts for them.
Ticket News
Tickets can be purchased in advance at this link here
Adult: £15
OAPS: £10
Students: £10
U16 with paying adult: Free
Portsmouth Season Ticket Holders (Season Ticket must be shown at gate): £8
Concessions for NHS & Armed Forces: £8 upon presentation of a valid NHS and Forces card for league matches only.
Please note there is no discount when booking online. Tickets are available on the gate.
How to get there…
To drive to the game, take the M25 and A3 and then the B2149. Take this all the way and then turn left onto Bartons Road, and then the next right onto Martin Road and the ground is on this road. The nearest train station is Havant, which is a mile from the ground.
Where to follow the game…
The Club will be 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.
It is set to be a mild afternoon with 10 degrees expected at kickoff, with the match set to be played under cloudy skies.
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