English Non-League
2012-09-22 - Newport County vs Southport
A Sports Betting Pick by ArmchairPunter
Football – England – Blue Square Premier
Saturday 22nd September 2012 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Top of the Blue Square Premier Newport County welcome mid-table Southport to their originally named Newport Stadium on Saturday afternoon as the hosts look to preserve their unbeaten home record.
Newport County
Newport have beaten the likes of Nuneaton Town 4-0, Lincoln City 2-1, Hereford United (hotly tipped for promotion) 2-0 and drew with Stockport County in a 0-0 stalemate weekend before last. The Exiles will be looking for back-to-back wins though this Saturday following their impressive 3-0 win at Barrow last Saturday thanks to a brace from former Luton Town striker Danny Crow.
So, a fifth of the season completed in the Blue Square Premier and Justin Edinburgh’s men still remain at the top of the league – how long can they remain there?
Well, they seem to have some key attacking players such as leading scoring midfielder Aaron O’Connor (7 goals) along with Danny Crow, Jefferson Louis, Ismail Yakubu and Lee Evans all chipping in with 2 goals apiece while Crow (4 assists) and Jake Thomson (3 assists) have provided the creativity.
Southport
Today’s visitors Southport possess a pretty decent away record going into this match; just one defeat in their last twelve, and whilst they’ve lost only once so far this term, that was at Cambridge United who are pretty strong at home themselves and should be challenging for a play-off spot later on.
Aside from that result they’ve drawn at Alfreton Town and Kidderminster who occupy lower half and bottom of the league positions respectively, and their win was at newly promoted Hyde who are just one point and one place above Kidderminster.
This afternoon’s fixture therefore represents The Sandgrounders’ first real test on the road and it’ll be interesting to see how they stack up this time around as I suspect they’re a much-changed side from the one that beat Newport County 3-0 away last October, or more to the point, Newport County are.
Southport also possess some dangerous attacking players like striker Tony Gray, and midfield trio Karl Ledsham, Shaun Whalley and Chris Almond, with Alan Moogan providing 2 assists so far. Godfrey Poku will also need to be kept quiet if Newport are to win this match.
The Betting Verdict :
So far this season though, manager Justin Edinburgh has instilled a real sense of belief and desire among his Newport County side and this will be a benchmark match upon which they’ll be judged by other clubs in the division.
I’ll back Newport to win this one at home, and to cover the -1 line for a tilt at some extra value. Newport County to win 3-1 as a possible scoreline.
The Pick :
Newport County 3-1 Southport
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
Take Newport County AH-1 @ 2.24 at Pinnacle
