Our earlier visit to Kings Langley to face Potters Bar Town this season was originally scheduled for New Year's Day but was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. Our rescheduled match is on Tuesday night, and the Blues come into this match in an improved run of form having collected 7 points from the last 12 on offer, after securing a home victory over title-chasing Dover Athletic on Saturday.
Our Opponents
Potters Bar were founded in 1960, formerly known as Mount Grace Old Scholars, renaming to Potters Bar Town in 1991, but retaining the nickname of "The Scholars". The Scholars were promoted from step 4 in 2018/19, where they finished 2nd and were promoted automatically from Isthmian North division.
Potters Bar Town ended last season in 15th position, with 51 points from their 42 matches. This was a very similar outcome to the Scholars' previous two seasons where 53 points in both 2022/23 and 2021/22 saw them finish 13th in both of those campaigns. In recent years, it was their FA Cup exploits that made headlines, forcing a replay against Barnet FC live on BBC in 2019/20 in front of over 2,000 fans at the Lantern Stadium.
This season, Potters Bar are performing well, occupying 10th position in the table with 43 points from 29 matches so far (W13 D4 L12). The Scholars are 13 points adrift of the playoffs but 15 points clear of the relegation zone at this stage, and four places and five points above the Blues going into Tuesday night's clash. After starting the season with a bleak 8-0 defeat at home to relegated Dover Athletic, the Scholars had an inspired spell which saw them reach 3rd place by the end of September, with five wins from their next seven games, including a 5-0 home win over Lewes, after this Potters Bar dropped down into mid-table by the end of November, and have bounced around in the middle of the pack for the rest of the season to date.
Head To Head
Last season our first clash against Potters Bar came at the Lantern Stadium on Boxing Day. An Ahmet Biler goal gave us a one goal lead at the break before the home side scored twice to take the lead shortly after the hour mark. Zack Newton levelled the scores just two minutes later before former Blues forward Darnell Goather-Braithwaite scored at the death to give the home side all three points in a 3-2 win. In the run-in last season, as the Blues closed on a playoff position, we settled the scores, taking a 3-1 victory at the Maurice Rebak Stadium thanks to goals from Ruben Carvalho, Alex Solomon and Ben Frempah.
This season, our game at the Maurice Rebak Stadium, Potters Bar took all three points in a 2-1 win on August Bank Holiday. Steve Cawley scored in the first half for the visitors, before the Blues mounted a comeback, dominating much of the second half before Thomas Avgoustidis scored a suckerpunch goal to double the Potters Bar lead. Ryan Lowe scored in the dying minutes for the Blues but it wasn't enough to take anything from the match.
Last Time Out
The Scholars' recent form has been solid, with four wins and two defeats in their last six matches. All six results have been settled by one-goal margins, the most recent of those being back-to-back 3-2 victories. First it was at home to Whitehawk, where a 93rd minute goal for Whitehawk helped to reduce the deficit, but Potters Bar had done the damage in the early stages. On Saturday, it was Potters Bar who benefitted from a 94th minute winner, as Joe Re's late goal helped Potters Bar to all three points against Lewes at the Dripping Pan.
The Blues appear to have put their tough spell behind them, unbeaten in their last three games at home, with two wins on the bounce. It is on the road where the Blues need to improve, with five defeats on the bounce in away matches, after winning four of their previous five fixtures on their travels. Tuesday night's clash provides an opportunity to put that form right.
Players To Watch
Harvey Steel has scored in two consecutive matches, after signing for the Scholars from Marc Weatherstone's Welwyn Garden City. The 22-year old right back also had a spell with the Blues, appearing 13 times in the Isthmian Premier League at the end of 2021/22 and start of 2022/23 seasons. Joe Re scored that vital late winner on Saturday and has proven to be an excellent addition to the Scholars' midfield. Re came through Nottingham Forest's academy before joining Cheshunt where he achieved promotion from Step 4 and Step 3, into National League South. A single season at Hemel Hempstead followed, before he joined Potters Bar at the start of this season.
For Wingate & Finchley, one of their own goalscoring midfielders, Ryan Lowe, made it seven goals for the season on Saturday as he netted the opener against Dover, and one of his seven goals came against Tuesday night's opposition. Lowe's move from Colchester United at the start of the season has proven to be a shrewd move by Ahmet Rifat, and the classy midfielder has slotted nicely into the Blues side. Meanwhile, Andronicos Georgiou will be familiar with the surroundings on Tuesday, as he has had two separate spells at Kings Langley; an early loan spell in 2019 while he was on the books of Stevenage, and a permanent move in 2022/23, netting ten goals across the two spells.
Photos courtesy of Martin Addison.
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