Non-League Betting: The Wright "Brothers" to land Workington a weekend win

Non-league / Gary Boswell / 30 January 2009 / Leave a comment

Gary Boswell was researching Wrexham-Northwich and in the process of his investigations stumbled across two very good betting opportunities for this weekend's action...

I was called in to do a professional assessment of the Wrexham-Northwich match prior to kick off at the Racecourse on Tuesday night and in the course of in depth research on that fixture - and subsequent analysis of the action - I've come up with two good bets against the odds for this weekend.

My conclusion on Tuesday was to be very wary of opposing Northwich at long odds.

On the face of it, their form going into Tuesday night was dire with six straight defeats. The off pitch shenanigans that include chairman Mike Connett breaking into the ground to reclaim his rightful possessions (whatever happened to knocking on the door to ask for your ball back?) have played their part but in amongst the defeats on the pitch was a fair dose of hard luck.

The 0-1 against Burton and the 1-0 up with ten men and two minutes to go against Histon were interpreted by me as sign that a turnaround in luck was imminent if manager Steve King could keep the faith. I have been very impressed by centre back Steve Robinson who King coaxed in from Chelmsford (well up to League standard in my humble opinion) and the other factor was their sitting third in the card count table for this season in BSP. I thought Wrexham might be in for a rough ride and so it proved with six yellows brandished on the night and all of them to Northwich players.

But it worked and the big Wrexham win that was being heavily punted, and which I'd been brought in to assess the likelihood of, never materialised. It took two hotly disputed Wrexham penalties in the dying minutes - one of which Jefferson Louis missed - to save the Dragons' blushes and further convince the Vics that Lady Luck simply refuses to shine on them at the moment.

It was a belter of a game that you can catch highlights of on Setanta's BSP round up on Friday evening and I heartily recommend it if you fancy the two bets I'm proposing this weekend.
The first is on Northwich at rewarding odds of [5.0] to finally get a win under the belt away at Woking in BSP. Whilst Vics were all passion and grit in their fight against the drop, the Cards were busy wilting 0-4 at home to Eastbourne on Tuesday and this six pointer looks priced up all wrong to me. Northwich are not going down without a fight but on Tuesday's evidence, Woking might be!

The second bet is on Workington at [4.5] to beat Wrexham at Borough Park in the FA Trophy. Dean Saunders has made no secret of his priorities. Getting Wrexham to the play-offs and from there back to their rightful place in the Football League is the singular focus. He has already surrendered a Setanta Shield game against Southport and an approach was made to Workington to request playing to a finish on Saturday so that Wrexham could avoid a replay that would detract from the purpose they are prioritising for the rest of this season.

Workington turned the offer down as a visit to the Racecourse constitutes vital revenue for them. It tells you how Wrexham feel about the fixture though and as they are due to face a Reds side that has hit form in BSN, any level of under commitment from the Dragons is certain to be punished.

Darren Edmondson has done well to secure Workington's place out of the drop zone after a ropey start to the season and the return to goalscoring form of that aptly named duo of Wright 'brothers', Johnny and Anthony,(despite the urban myth,they are actually not related) has been very welcome.

Workington no longer field the Three Rs with Reed off the books. His place was taken early this season by Gareth Arnison who is a player I watched a lot at Kendal Town and who is non-league's answer to Peter Crouch. If Wrexham defend set pieces on Saturday like they did on Tuesday, Arnison is in the form to punish them.

The other game worth a mention this weekend takes place at Kingsmeadow in Blue Square South where the title may well be decided as Terry Brown's AFC Wimbledon play host to Jeff King's Chelmsford. The two have been having a glorious head to head all season and after a long period with the momentum in Chelmsford's favour, following their win in the reverse fixture, the pendulum swang back to the Wombles on Tuesday night with their 1-0 win at Bishops Stortford. It took them back to the top of the table for the first time since September.

Wimbledon have an imperious home record (9 wins from 12 games) whilst Chelmsford excel on the road - with only one defeat all season - so a genuine battle of the Titans is in store. Prices are [2.2] on Wimbledon, [3.0] Chelmsford and [3.5] the draw and all three look good value so I'll let you decide which way you think the game will go. It's one to watch and enjoy for me!

THE BOZ's RECOMMENDED BETS:

1pt BACK on NORTHWICH to beat WOKING @ [5.0] or better
1pt BACK on WORKINGTON to beat WREXHAM @ [4.5] or better