February Focus: The National League South Title Race

By Steven Coney

The Vanarama National League South has been rightly looked upon as one of the most exciting divisions in football this season.

We’re in February now and have no idea where the title will be heading! We’ve had a look through this month’s fixtures to see if they provide us with any clues as to where the trophy will end up…

Dartford

St Albans City (A)
Chelmsford City (H)
Wealdstone (A)
Truro City (H)

The Darts are on top but they have an extremely difficult month ahead of them. St Albans and Wealdstone will both be tough away trips so their home games will be key. Chelmsford are a wounded animal at the moment and Truro travel well.

Hampton & Richmond Borough

Bath City (A)
Whitehawk (H)
Chippenham Town (A)
Bognor Regis Town (H)
Hungerford Town (H)

The Beavers have five games in the month of February and are currently 21 games unbeaten. The three home fixtures are all against struggling teams so Hampton will be confident. Even the away trips aren’t the most difficult so it could be a big, big month for Alan Dowson’s side.

Hemel Hempstead Town

Oxford City (A)
Chelmsford City (A)
Havant & Waterlooville (H)

Hemel suffered a shock home defeat to Poole Town on Saturday and will want to come back strongly. They only have three games in February and will hope to pick up at least five points. Games against Chelmsford and Havant, though, will be tough.

Havant & Waterlooville

Braintree Town (H)
Poole Town (A)
Hungerford Town (H)
Hemel Hempstead Town (A)
Gloucester City (H)

The Hawks kick off the month with a big, big game against promotion rivals Braintree. Things get easier with games against Poole, Hungerford and Gloucester but their trip to Hemel will be key. Lee Bradbury’s side could give their hopes a massive boost with a good month.

Braintree Town

Havant & Waterlooville (A)
Bath City (H)
Bognor Regis Town (A)
Poole Town (H)

Braintree have lost two in a row and will need to get their charge back on track this month. After starting with a tough trip to Havant, they have an easier schedule and will be looking at least six points from their final three February fixtures.

St Albans City

Dartford (H)
Hungerford Town (A)
Welling United (A)
Chippenham Town (H)
Weston-super-Mare (A)

Ian Allinson’s side are coming off a seven-goal performance that moved them up to sixth. If the Saints can get a result against Dartford on home soil, February could end up with them much higher in the standings. They’re on the road three times but they’re games St Albans should go into with confidence.

Truro City

Bognor Regis Town (A)
Wealdstone (H)
Oxford City (H)
Dartford (A)
Concord Rangers (H)

The White Tigers are coming off a 3-2 defeat at bottom club Whitehawk but have a potentially big month ahead. They face a difficult trip to Dartford but their other four fixtures are winnable. It’s time for Truro to prove their doubters wrong again.

And let’s not forget…

Chelmsford City and Welling United sit just outside the play-off places and the former would have expected to challenge this season. Weston-super-Mare and Wealdstone are also coming off big wins and have games in hand - it’s all to play for!


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