Whickham - Stat attack

NORTHALLERTON TOWN face Whickham at the Calvert Stadium tomorrow night and here we look at all the stats ahead of the match.

Last season;

Whickham finished 16th in Division Two last season, winning 11 games, drawing 8 and losing 23. They scored 47 goals and conceded  86.

Oddly, Town's record in finishing 6th was almost the mirror image, winning 23, drawing 8 and losing 11. Town scored 101 goals and conceded 63.

Both league meetings between the sides were settled by the odd goal. Adam Emson got the only goal here at the Calvert almost exactly a year ago, while an Ian Smurthwaite penalty and a last minute Marcus Laing header saw us come from behind to win 2-1 at the Glebe in April. Craig Rook had earlier given Whickham the lead.

The sides also met in the Brooks Mileson League Cup at the Calvert in February and again it was a tight game. Jordan Lartey gave Whickham a first half lead and that was the way it stayed until the final 10 minutes when first Colin Anderson equalised and then Chris Dickinson won it from the penalty spot in stoppage time.

Previous meetings;

The two sides have met 28 times in the league with Town winning 19 and Whickham just 4. The first meeting was in the 1988-89 season and finished in a 1-1 draw.

Whickham's only victory at the Calvert Stadium came in the 2010-11 season when they won 3-2. In fact that is their only success over Town in the last 14 meetings going back over 10 years.

Current form;

Whickham come into the match on the back of 2 very good cup wins - 4-0 at Esh Winning in the Durham Challenge cup last midweek and 5-3 over Birtley in the FA Vase last Saturday. In fact Whickham have won 4 of their last 5 matches, which has also seen them beat Division One side Hebburn 3-0 in the Vase. Whickham's only defeat in that run came at league leaders Heaton Stannington.

Town have not been in the best form with only one win from the last 5 matches, 3-0 away at struggling Ryton & Crawcrook. Last time out they were beaten 2-1 by Heaton Stannington after the early dismissal of Jason Brazuaskas. However, 2-2 draws against good North Shields and Stokesley sides were decent results and the last 3 defeats have all only occurred after Town had been reduced to 10 men.

Players to watch;

Whickham's goal threat will come from Tony Thirkill and Steve Aiston who have scored 8 goals each this season. Meanwhile, winger Craig Rook has scored 5 times.

Town's main man up front has been Jamie Clarke with 8 goals so far while Colin Anderson has scored 6 in 6 starts this season, including a perfect hat-trick in the win at Ryton 10 days ago.

Summary;

Whickham arrive in good form and are scoring plenty of goals so they will be confident of getting a result against an inconsistent Town side. However, they have a poor record on this ground and that could prove decisive on the night.

Prediction;

Town will be looking to bounce straight back from defeat on Saturday and while Whickham will provide a tough test, I predict a 3-2 Town victory with Anderson amongst the goals.