Bromley v Altrincham

Bromley hosting Altrincham has the potential to be one of the weekend’s most entertaining fixtures in the National league.

Both sides currently have issues defensively. Bromley signed last season’s second-choice goalkeeper to replace Ellery Balcombe and Mark Cousins, having failed to sign a sufficient replacement. They also conceded three goals at Wealdstone with them having a clear vulnerability through the centre of the pitch due to the age of the squad – six of their 10 outfielders are 30 or older. Alty, meanwhile, started with two teenagers in midfield, were missing goalkeeper Oliver Byrne (international clearance) and first-choice right-back Ross Barrows (injury). They conceded from a set-piece and also saw Maidstone United striker Jack Barham hit the post early on.

Both sides are capable of attacking, which gives more reason to expect goals here. Altrincham’s attacking play tends to involve a lot of width, trying to create overloads before switching to the other flank, something that should work well against Bromley’s three-at-the-back system. Ryan Colclough is also one of the most dangerous wide men in the division and started the season excellently, setting up the Alty goal and hitting the woodwork twice. As for The Ravens, they scored once from a set-piece and the other via the individual brilliance of Corey Whitely and Michael Cheek, who should cause problems for a youthful Alty defensive shape.

With both sides capable of hurting each other going forward and neither in prime shape defensively, this game lends itself to both sides having good opportunities to score.

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Chesterfield v Aldershot Town

 It would be easy to think “same old Chesterfield” after their opening day draw with Dorking Wanderers. They had a midfielder in goal for over half the match, finished up with nine players and lost a two-goal lead.

However, the signs have been positive this summer and I’m not willing to back against them just yet. Paul Cook has been working on his 4-2-3-1 system throughout pre-season and his work on the training ground paid off with Akwasi Asante and Armando Dobra setting each other up to score, not to mention the imminent return of Kabongo Tshimanga, who was given a rest last week as he prepares his body for competitive football.

It helps that they will be playing an Aldershot Town side whose good pre-season work was thrown out of the window on opening day. They had spent the summer planning to play 4-3-3 but made a late change to 3-4-1-2, Mark Molesley blaming it on the sale of Jayden Harris to Carlisle United a couple of days before the season opener. The change went horribly, conceding four at home against a Solihull Moors side playing the same formation Chesterfield will play, including three from crosses into the box.

Despite last week’s hiccup, Paul Cook’s has created a clear structure for his side, proven last weekend given their chance creation prior to the red card and in front of a big home crowd, I’m expecting them to put Aldershot to the sword.

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Maidenhead United v Scunthorpe United

This is the type of game Alan Devonshire and Maidenhead United look forward to as much as any. A big club and fanbase turning up to the ground of their part-time club with three points the expectation. They live for it. The Magpies won nine and drew five of their 22 home matches last season, including victories against Wrexham, FC Halifax Town, Chesterfield, Boreham Wood, Bromley and Southend United, not to mention draws against Grimsby Town and Yeovil Town.

That spells trouble for a Scunthorpe United side who were excellent on opening day, playing football through the thirds and making the most of the width they were afforded. However, they played a forgiving Yeovil Town side that offered little pressure on the ball and didn’t create much until they were 2-0 down.

They won’t be given the same opportunity to play their own game at York Road. Maidenhead will condense the pitch, be a lot more engaging and physical and make the most of the ball they do have, playing forward and direct to put pressure on the Scunthorpe backline. And with Sam Barratt fit, they are always good for a goal. They did lose their opening fixture at Notts County but they were much stronger opposition and Alan Devonshire’s side are a different proposition at York Road.

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Yeovil Town v Wrexham

Wrexham certainly made hard work of their opening day fixture against Eastleigh. Having fallen one-nil down courtesy of a long throw (quite ironic given they possess Ben Tozer), Elliott Lee came on and produced the kind of quality you expect from a player that has spent the last four seasons in the Championship and League One.

However, it wasn’t a poor performance. They had 70% of the ball, 18 shots to Eastleigh’s six and didn’t give away a single corner. And that’s despite a pre-season that had its interruptions with an initial trip to America change to Spain due to issues around vaccinations. There aren’t many games that Wrexham won’t win this season and the quality of Phil Parkinson’s side showed last weekend with Lee, Jordan Davies and Jacob Mendy all coming off the bench and being in line for first league starts.

To get a result against Wrexham, you are likely going to have to be at your best and it’s hard to imagine Yeovil being at their best. For starters, they were very passive in their opening game against Scunthorpe United, their attacks in the first hour largely coming through opposition errors in possession rather than being on the front foot and taking the game to them. They also lost key attacker Tom Knowles a couple of days before the season opener which hasn’t helped manager Chris Hargreaves who admitted a couple of his players are still learning their new roles.

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