VCD Athletic preview

Wingate and Finchley host bottom placed VCD Athletic on Saturday as the Blues look to put their midweek misery behind them. Tuesday's 6-0 loss at the hands of title-challenging Bognor Regis means that Keith Rowland's side have drawn a blank in their last two games. And last Saturday's 1-0 loss away at Harrow means Billy Healey's solitary effort in the Blues' 3-1 loss to East Thurrock on 2nd April is the only goal supporters of the North London side have been able to cheer this month. That loss ended an unbeaten run of four games for Wingate. But while a visit from an already relegated VCD Athletic side who have failed to win any of their last twelve games may seem like the perfect tonic, it may not be the walkover many in N12 are expecting. Wingate's trip to Kent on December 12th saw them take the lead through Rob Laney after just six minutes, but a second half fightback from the Vickers saw them ride out as 2-1 winners and prevent the Blues from temporarily topping the Ryman Premier Division. That victory came as the fourth of just seven wins this season for VCD and one has to go back to February 6th for their last, when Ricky Sappleton's hat trick secured a 3-2 win at home to high flying Dulwich Hamlet. That game constituted just over a third of Vickers' top scorer Sappleton's 10 goals this season, though the striker has only found the net in just four games since then. The only team in the league to have scored less goals than games played (42 in 44 matches), a single goal for the home side this weekend will also mean the Kent outfit can boast another unwanted record of 100 goals conceded. Wingate's midfielder Leon Fisher began the season briefly playing for VCD Athletic, moving to Brentwood Town at the end of August and eventually resigning for Wingate in February. And believers in fate will take heart from the fact that it was he who scored the only goal in Wingate's last victory - a 1-0 win against his former club Brentwood. But, with a top half finish within touching distance and just two games left to play this season, Rowland will be hoping that Fisher, or indeed anybody in a blue shirt, can find the back of the net again. Preview by Andy Gerlis