English Non-League
2013-02-22 - Macclesfield Town vs Gateshead
A Sports Betting Pick by ArmchairPunter
Football – England – Blue Square Premier
Friday 22nd February 2013 – Kickoff: 1945hrs
MACCLESFIELD TOWN
Seventh placed Macclesfield Town take on a Gateshead outfit who are dangerously involved in a relegation battle following a disappointing season by their standards, in Friday night’s Blue Squere Premier fixture at the Moss Rose ground.
Macclesfield are making a late charge on the play-off pack and are unbeaten in their last six league matches with wins over fourth placed Kidderminster 1-0, Ebbsfleet United 4-0 away and another away win at Alfreton Town 2-1 along with draws against Hyde, Tamworth and promotion pretenders Luton Town.
The Silkmen’s home record stands at 7-3-4 21/16 and have been unbeaten in their last five but they’ll be looking to bag all three points tonight with the visit of Gateshead whose confidence must be wavering at best and haven’t performed well on the road all season.
As well as keeping six clean sheets so far at home, Macclesfield also possess the firepower of former Luton Town striker Barnes-Homer (15 goals, 4 assists) who has scored goals wherever he’s been, Fairhurst (10 goals, 3 assists) and the creativity of Kissock (6 assists), Murtagh (5 assists) and Braham-Barrett (4 assists).
GATESHEAD
Onto Gateshead then, and the north-east outfit have endured a torrid time of it this season and they’ve lost their last five matches on the trot, and indeed have won just once in their last eleven BSP games. It’s no wonder then that they find themselves embroiled in a relegation battle to retain their top-flight status, currently languishing in 21st place one point adrift of Barrow and the safety of 20th place.
Recent defeats to Barrow, Tamworth and Ebbsfleet United have severely dented their hopes of climbing out of the bottom four as these results were against teams around them in the lower end of the division, along with understandable defeats against Forest Green Rovers and Wrexham, both by 0-1 margins.
Away from home the story gets worse with just the one win from their last fourteen matches on the road which was a 2-0 win at Barrow back on Boxing Day. Aside from that though, The Heed have taken just seven away points from a possible 42 on offer and they look set for further misery on Friday night.
THE BETTING VERDICT:
Gateshead’s away record stands at 3-5-9 16/28 and they’ve kept just two clean sheets on their travels so far this season (at Nuneaton Town and Barrow) and up against Macclesfield’s firepower tonight, I can see them once again folding into submission; I’ll therefore back Macclesfield for the straight win here by perhaps a 2-0 scoreline.
The Pick :
Macclesfield Town 2 Gateshead 0
