NON-LEAGUE expert Callum Jones (@Goaldust) has found two National League bets to follow this weekend.
Forest Green Rovers v Eastleigh | Saturday 15:00
I’m probably starting to sound like a cracked record but how the bookies can continue to justify laying Forest Green at home, at almost even-money, is beyond me.
The Gloucestershire outfit may have lost ground on leaders Cheltenham due to a 2-2 at Wrexham a fortnight ago but they’ve won seven of their last eight in the league and have collected maximum points in their own back yard in their last eight home games.
As I’ve stated in a previous post, they’re the best team in the division on their own patch. They’ve only dropped points against Cheltenham, Gateshead and Tranmere at the New Lawn and all three were during a difficult spell in late September/early October. They’ve been pitch perfect ever since.
On the other side of things, Eastleigh have been well out of tune for a while now. They approached Christmas well in touch at the top, having won 12 out of 14 games in all competitions.
Ever since, they’ve been dreadful. Perhaps their FA Cup exploits took their toll, but they’ve not won a football match since 19 December and they’ve played 10 times since then. Their record in that period reads W0-D5-L5.
Saturday marks their fourth straight game on the road and that must start to become difficult, especially when you’re not winning. They’ve conceded eight goals in their last three and were beaten by a resurgent Gateshead side in midweek.
On their day, they are a very good side who deserve to be battling at the head of this division. Unfortunately, it’s not been their day for quite some time now (63 days, to be precise), and it’ll take some performance to turn that around at the League’s premier home team.
Therefore, the 20/21 Ladbrokes are offering about a home win appears too good to pass up.
FC Halifax Town v Grimsby Town | Saturday 15:00
Halifax have dragged themselves out from the abyss and have a genuine chance of staying up now. Jim Harvey has done a super job and whatever happens from here on out, he and his players deserve massive credit for turning it around.
They were beaten by FGR last weekend, but it was the first time they’ve lost in their own back yard since November last year. They had drawn four from six before that defeat, so turning a point into three has clearly been a big issue.
Grimsby have seen the top two in the division disappear into the sunset in recent weeks but their form remains solid enough – they’ve won nine of their last 12 in the league.
Town have been very impressive on the road and have lost only once since the end of August, so they’re quite rightly favourites to extend their fine run at the Shay on Saturday.
Having said that, 4/5 seems a little skinny, especially considering Jim Harvey’s side have been very difficult to beat in recent weeks, so I think a trip down the goals route may be more rewarding.
Both Teams To Score has copped in 13 of Halifax’s 17 home fixtures this season, and there’s been an average of 3.6 goals-per-game in West Yorkshire. FCHT have scored in seven of their last eight home games and Grimsby in five of their last six on the road.
BTTS is slim at 8/11, so I’ll take the 11/10 Stan James are offering about Both Teams To Score and Over 2.5 Goals – that seems reasonable, all things considered.
Best Bets
Forest Green Rovers v Eastleigh – Forest Green Rovers to win (20/21 Ladbrokes)
FC Halifax Town v Grimsby Town – Both Teams To Score and Over 2.5 Goals (11/10 Stan James)
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