Salford City v Stevenage [Preview]

By Pete H

Now 12 unbeaten after last week’s draw at home to Bradford, let’s hope it ain’t unlucky 13 as we go out on our travels again. Sadly, the initial omens aren’t looking good as we head north to Salford; a side who hold a perfect record against us. We’ll have more on that later whether you like it or not. But we still have an outside chance of gatecrashing the playoffs and three points here keeps that fire burning a little while longer.

Of course, the Ammies have their own hopes of making up ground on the top seven. The big difference between us and them, however, is that a playoff place is the very least they should be getting. For us? It’s more than we could have expected in December…

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The Details: Salford City v Stevenage

Where’s the game?

All aboard the Boro’ bus as the driver taps the postcode for the Peninsula Stadium into his faithful satnav. It’s only the second time we’ve ever been here, so we might get lost…

Can I watch Salford City v Stevenage?

Woah now, young pup. The pub and restaurant gardens of the Old and New Town are still two days away from opening up in the brave new normal. Sure – you could go out and get reacquainted with five mates, six tinnies, and a park bench. But you’re all popular folk. You have more than five pals, so choosing who to meet and who to leave is too much hassle.

It’ll be so much easier to wait it out indoors a little longer. Put your feet up, get your tenner out, and digitally hand it over to watch the game with an iFollow Match Pass. Sorted.

How is Boro’s form looking at the moment?

Now, who wants a small fact that bungled its way past us on Easter Monday? After Bolton lost their long-running unbeaten record, it sent Boro’ – that’s us – to the top of the League Two form table; taking 18 points from the last 24 available. On the road, our defence is on a roll too; six straight clean sheets keeping things nice and tidy at the back. Up top? Well, the goals are still hard to come by. But we’ve *nearly* caught Colchester United now.

… and how are the Ammies doing right now?

One team and one team alone have a better defensive record than us this season. And it’s the Ammies; currently on 31 Goals Against, compared to our 34. But that total is a lot more than it might have been had their recent form not been so rocky. Nine points from their last eight outings is not that good at all. Mind you, they did put things straight on Easter Monday with a 2-0 win away to Forest Green Rovers.

It was their first win in seven games. We know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking we’ve a chance here. And, sure – there’s always a chance. But we’re still up against a side who have the second-best home record in the division. From 19 matches at the Peninsula, the Ammies have 35 points to their name. And, while they’ve drawn their last three indoors, no team has won there in the last 19. It’s a big trend to buck.

Our story with Salford City so far

It was at the Peninsula Stadium that our 2019-20 League Two campaign started to rapidly slide downhill. And that was on the opening day! No wonder we got into such a mess. It was us who first welcomed the Ammies into the Football League and we let them get off to the perfect start with a 2-0 win in front of Sky Sports cameras. A 1-0 home defeat in February 2020, meanwhile, marked the end of Graham Westley‘s fourth spell as Boro’ boss.

The Ammies repeated that particular trick at the Lamex back in October too. The outcome wasn’t so severe for us, however. Revs is, after all, still in charge. But this losing form and an inability to breach their defence needs to stop sooner rather than later.

Please?

Last Time Out: Stevenage 0-1 Salford City, 03 October 2020

Who’s the referee in charge?

Andy Haines.

Now, we’re not sure if this counts as a bad omen or not. The last time we saw Mr Haines is just over 12 months ago in what turned out to be our last game of the 2019-20 season. Of course, it’s now massively likely that our current season will be running the full course. So, the lads shouldn’t be thinking about an early summer break just yet.

Last season’s Crewe away day was the second League Two match on the spin that we’d lost after letting in three goals on Mr Haines’ watch too; a 3-0 defeat at home to Notts County in late March 2019 not being one for us to remember fondly. It’s not all bad news, however. In all, Boro’ have won three and drawn two of the eight games overseen by Mr Haines over the years. It’s just that we now need to rediscover how to do either…

For your notes and records, this will be Mr Haines’ 27th match of the current season. He has 60 yellows to his name so far (2.2 per game) and four reds. Nice to know, innit?

Last Time Out: Crewe Alexandra 3-1 Stevenage, 07 March 2020

Salford City v Stevenage: Our verdict?

For us, we aren’t feeling this one. It could be our current head-to-head record against the Ammies. It might also be their decent form indoors this season. Either way, it isn’t adding up to a good day out. It’ll be a close one – but it’s unlucky 13 in our eyes: 1-0 home win.

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