Non-league / Gary Boswell / 14 August 2008 /

You can already 'go green' on Stevenage as price almost doubles after just two games! roars Gary Boswell.

It's early doors in the Blue Square Premier but encouraging to see that the doubts about Stevenage as bookmaker's favourites for the league were well founded. Those who followed my lead and laid the ludicrous price - as short as [6.4] was matched on the Betfair outrights market - can now do the glorious Betfair thing and GO GREEN with just two games gone. Stevenage drifted out to [11.0] after their humiliation by the league's whipping boys, Eastbourne Borough on Tuesday night.

Personally, I'm tempted to keep up the opposition to Borough for a while yet. A tough must win home game on Saturday against the tricky Terras of Weymouth who have done as the Non-League Pools Panel Champion predictor Peter Flower said and come storming out of the blocks with deserved wins against Grays and Oxford. John Hollins is a manager who knows what he's doing and has brought in Chris McPhee and Santos Gaia to bolster what he started last season when hired to avoid a relegation situation at the Wessex.

There will be no thoughts of relegation this season with star player Stuart Beavon still on board. I expect more headaches for Graham Westley PLC on Saturday. The major concern for Boro fans must be that Westley spent money amassing his 'experienced Conference squad' - the likes of Ashley Bayes, Eddie Anaclet, Mark Albrighton, Lee Boylan, Isedeyen Christie. To me, that reads like a hit list of other club's cast-offs - all of whom have definitely seen better days. It flies totally in the face of what Gary Waddock and John Still did in the last two years in putting together young talented squads to win the league and I think Boro are seriously riding for a continued fall.

And yet the bookmakers continue to hold faith and have Stevenage priced at [1.57] for Saturday's game and Weymouth at a monstrous [5.0] . Those prices are sure to appear on the Betfair markets in the next couple of days and as they do, snap them up. On current form alone, they are as an outrageous a case of wrong pricing as you'll ever see.

It's possible the same can be said about the Cambridge versus Barrow game on Saturday but at least there the Us have started with two wins under new manager Gary Brabin and it is difficult to be as bullish about Barrow carrying on their magnificent start. It's a possibility though as the Bluebirds are showing plenty of signs that they have what it takes to step up. The goals they let in at Moss Lane on Tuesday night were the first competitive goals conceded since April 12th and manager Dave Bayliss came live on Betfair Radio fuming and a frothing that Barrow's success is built on clean sheets. I expect a reaction in Cambridge on Saturday and the [1.6] on Cambridge looks a good lay price to me whilst I wouldn't put anybody off the [6.0] or better that you'll get about a Barrow win. Seven goals in two games is not like last season for them but I've been very impressed in the two games so far how they are attacking as a unit - driven by class midfielders Boyd and Bond - and the addition of talented ex-Man City trainee Carlos Logan on the left wing does seem to have given the Bluebirds new goalscoring potential. Last season top striker Nick Rogan - currently injured - is going to find it difficult to get back in the side the way things are currently going.

For all the pre-season predictions that have gone well so far, I've been disappointed by the start Ebbsfleet have made and very surprised at how Mansfield got it together to come back from 2-0 down opening day and built on that with a solid 1-0 win over Histon midweek. The pre-season lay on the Stags will have to be monitored if they beat Kidderminster this weekend and it does look like Billy McKewan has already made some sense out of the close season chaos that I witnessed down in Nottinghamshire.

Tonight's Live on Setanta game is a watching brief as York City could still be anything this season. Last season's weak link goalkeeper has been shipped out and a new boy Krysiak is between the sticks. I look forward to the chance to check him out and it looks a stern test for the credentials of Brian Little's Dragons who made such a flying start on the opening day.

I wrote last weekend about the perils of tipping your own club and Redditch let me down with their opening day defeat at home to Gateshead. It's early days yet though and the midweek point at Kings Lynn was a redeemer and I'll give the impressive Reds line-up another chance this weekend as they line-up at struggling Vauxhall Motors who are worth laying at anything around the [2.3] mark. Blue Square North is promising to be an extremely competitive league this season with the extraordinary sight after two games of only one club - Southport - making the 100% start.

That could be a very early pointer to the champions in itself.

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