The ‘Gate make the journey to West Sussex this afternoon to face table topping Three Bridges, as the two in-form sides in the Isthmian South-East Division clash at Jubilee Field.
Saturdays hosts currently lead the league standings by three points of second placed Faversham Town having collected 45 points from their opening 20 games this season. Ben Greenhalgh’s side sit just outside the play-off places in sixth, ten points adrift of today’s opposition, however they are looking to make it 11 games unbeaten after a fine run of form which has seen them chase down the play-off places over the past two months.
It seems almost certain that fans at Jubilee Field on Saturday will see goals, with both of these sides already scoring over 100 league goals between them. The hosts have netted 56 times this season, and the ‘Gate already netting 50 times as well.
Margate will have to be on their guard as they come up against two of the leagues top three goalscorers this season. Former ‘Gate striker Noel Leighton sits top of the goalscoring charts with 16 league goals so far, while his strike partner Reece Hallard sits in third place having notched 14 league goals himself.
Recent form has seen the ‘Gate almost unplayable at times with convincing wins over East Grinstead, Beckenham Town and Erith Town of late, whilst despite their advantage at the top of the table, Three Bridges have stuttered lately with a couple of defeats against Erith Town and Faversham Town, however they remained top last week with a convincing 5-0 win over Eastbourne Town.
Margate took six points off today’s opposition last season with a 2-0 win at Hartsdown Park and a 3-1 away win played at Chatham’s ground as they awaited their own opening of their new 3G pitch. The ‘Gate and Three Bridges have met three times competitively in history with the ‘Gate winning all three.
Greenhalgh was boosted last weekend with Sam Blackman returning to the pitch from the bench after a long injury lay-off and he could get more minutes today as he continues to recover from injury.
Kick-off at Jubilee Field is scheduled for 3pm. Margate will wear their blue home strip for this fixture.
Stadium details
Jubilee Field
Three Bridges Road,
Three Bridges,
Crawley,
West Sussex,
RH10 1LQ
