On Saturday August 23rd Hampton and Richmond Borough welcome Dagenham and Redbridge to the Bev for the first time since 2007.
The Beavers will look to get back to winning ways after suffering their first defeat of the season at the hands of Maidstone United.
The Tuesday night fixture at the Gallagher Stadium was a lively affair with the home fans in good voice throughout, and the Hampton and Richmond away section, although smaller in number did their best to match them.
On the pitch Maidstone put in their best performance of the season so far to best the Beavers by two goals to nil. They had Hampton and Richmond on the ropes from ten minutes onwards, scoring an offside goal and missing a penalty early on in the contest.
They dominated possession for the first 25 minutes, but Hampton and Richmond responded well with chances of their own. Nathan Paul-Lavaly was as bright a spark as ever from right wing back, and Harry Gardner ventured forward on multiple occasions to deliver some teasing balls into the box. Sam Deadfield also delivered good balls into the box from set pieces, and the Beavers probably felt that the first half ended too early and scuppered their positive momentum.
Within three minutes of play resuming, Maidstone’s number nine Deon Moore timed his leap perfectly to connect with a Leon Harden cross and head the ‘Stones into a 1-0 lead. The crowd responded with hearty applause and momentum quickly swung back into the home side’s favour.
Ten minutes later they doubled their lead as a corner to the near post was flicked on by Davide Rodari into his own net, the pace of the ball caught him out causing him to mistime his jump and fail to make a good connection on the delivery.
As Hampton and Richmond searched for a response with a triple change in the attacking areas early in the second half, but their attempt to pull one back left them susceptible to counter attacks as they left more space in behind.
Despite the Beavers best efforts, the match finished 2-0, but it was a showing that should not dissuade the squad or manager Alan Julian that the good signs shown in the first two fixtures were fleeting. Maidstone are one of the better teams in the league and had quality in every area of the pitch which proved a real challenge for the new look squad.
Our next opponents have had an underwhelming start to the season with a defeat and two draws. The side who was relegated from the National League at the end of last season drew their latest match on Tuesday August 19th to Tonbridge Angels 2-2.
They were 2-0 up within twenty minutes, but in a post-match interview, manager Lee Bradbury felt his side “took their foot off the pedal,” and Tonbridge got a goal back to give them hope going into half-time. They completed their comeback in the 67th minute and despite the Daggers attempts to get back in front, the match ended in a draw.
Despite their poor start, Saturday’s away side will prove a real test for Alan Julian’s men who will look to continue their good start to the season despite the tough opening run of fixtures.
It is sure to be a grand occasion this Saturday at Beveree Stadium so don’t miss out on your chance to be a part of it. Get your tickets in advance right here.