Following another weather enforced rest week, Barnes Stormers FC are looking forward to getting back to playing regular football as they hope to start racking up some points and moving up the table.
It's been a poor start to 2023 for Barnes Stormers. After a shambolic start to the year with cancelled and unplayable pitches, missing refs and players all contributing to a loss two weeks ago. The Stormers are hoping that they can get themselves a strong squad together for their visit to local rivals Olympique Mayonnaise.
The last trip to Wandsworth Park was a cagey affair with 3 penalities being awarded eventually ending in a 3-3 draw. Discipline will be vital this time for the Stormers who threw away a possible win by conceding the 3rd penalty late on. Barnes feature a very different look side to last season, but is this turnover in players going to help the discipline factor or count against our team against a street wise Mayo side - only time will tell.
Of those players who have faced off with the oppo before, club captain Billy will be expected to lead the team and defensive line and in our captain we hope to see a more mature performance as he hopes to drag the side to a first victory in January. Mo and Jacko are the only two other survivors from the side that previously played Mayo and their leadership and experience will be invaluable in helping their captain to galvanise and guide this relatively inexperienced side through the game as they look to make a big impact with trademark challenges and probing runs into the opposition box.
The jury is still out on whether or not veteran striker Kai will be able to bolster the squad after he was able to score in last season's clash but if he can he will be a real threat for the Mayo offence. A wise head on his shoulders with a eye for the back of the net, this striker is keen to add to his goal tally this season aand Mayo is the perfect game for him to do so.
Of course Mayo have their own danger men and Barnes will be keenly aware of the frontline who are quick off the mark and able to get in behind the defence quickly. The key to this game could well be cutting out the long balls at source, and if all else fails that winning them before they can fall to the feet of the oppo wingers. This fixture is always one to lookforward to that promises goals and we expect nothing less this coming weekend, the only exception being that we hope the majority (if not all) the goals are being scored by the Stormers!
Looking at the previous round of fixtures and how they've impacted the league table, it's still very tight at the bottom half of the table. Just 2 points separate the bottom four clubs and with Mayo in 8th and Barnes propping up the table in 10th, this weekend's clash really is a relgation scrap as both teams seek a win to put some distance between themselves and the bottom of the table.
Table accurate as of 20/01/2023