Rugby
Town tonight host BGB Premier rivals
Bedford Town at Butlin Road, kick-off
7.45pm.
Both
sides have made nearly identical starts
to the season with two wins and three
defeats and the same goal difference.
Rugby
were defeated in the opening three
games of the season but have come
good in the last two games with wins
against Gloucester City and King's
Lynn.
Bedford's
start has been somewhat Jekyll and
Hyde - starting with a 4-0 home defeat
to Bromgrove followed by an impressive
2-0 win at Bedford. Defeats against
Brackley and Tiverton were then followed
by Saturday's 4-0 demolision of Swindon
Supermarine.
So
with growing confidence in both camps,
tonight's game should prove to be
a tense and exciting affair.
Bedford's
last visit to Butlin Road was in November
2005 when Rugby ran out as surprising
5-2
winners with Kevin
Slinn scoring a hat-trick against
his old club.
The
last meeting between the sides was
the final game of the 2005/6 season
as Chris Tullin notched a late goal
to earn a 1-1
draw.
Bedford
went onto win promotion in the 2005/6
season to the Conference South but
they had a short stay as they were
relegated in the first season and
also had a change of management with
Stuart Bimson replacing Nicky Platnauer.
Last
season there was a remarkable story
involving manager Platnauer as computer
games company Championship Manager
bought player Adam Garner from Chippenham
after Platnauer has seen Garner's
stats on the computer game. The manager
exited soon after this event.
Rugby
manager Billy Jeffrey is very likely
to be without midfielder David
Staff due to work commitments
which could mean a return to the starting
line-up for Matt Gearing
or Mark Edge.
Defender
Andy Commander (hand)
and Jason Taylor
(knee) are still unavailable for Valley
while ex-Bedford Ashley Blake
is now available after gaining international
clearance.
Rugby
Town Squad From: Simon Lynn,
Alessandro Barcherini, Aaron Stringfellow,
Brad Harris, Delroy Gordon, Craig
Herbert, Stefan Morley, Ashley Blake,
Stefan McGrath, Mark Edge, Matt Gearing,
Willis Francis, Tom Breward, Scott
Musgrove, David Kolodynski, David
Stone, Akin Aladetoun. |
