On Saturday the 25th of October Hampton & Richmond Borough travel to East London to face the unbeaten second-placed side Hornchurch.
The Beavers will look to bounce back after a pair of disappointing home defeats to Weston-Super-Mare and Hemel Hempstead.
Hampton & Richmond Borough are now winless since September 27th and have fallen to 12th in the National League South after twelve matches.
Last time out the Beavers fell 1-2 to Hemel Hempstead in what was a scrappy midweek match lacking in the quality one would expect at this level.
A unfortunate mistake from James Holden saw his pass cut out by Tudors captain Kyle Ajayi, who lofted a shot over the helpless number one twenty minutes in.
Striker Soul Kader had the ball in the back of the net and was brought down inside the area, but both came when he was in an offside position, and he hit the post later in the first half.
Debutant left back Kai Innocent had a decent first outing in burgundy, hitting the post in the second half and getting forward down the left flank effectively. There were a few occasions where his lack of chemistry with teammates was evident, but that will no doubt be helped with more training minutes under his belt.
Ronan Silva came off the bench to win and convert a penalty to give the Beavers late hope as he pulled it back to 1-2, his 87th minute effort was too little too late for the home side.
Saturday’s opponents Hornchurch went through in the Essex senior cup Tuesday night, besting Step 4 Redbridge 3-1 away from home.
Their league campaign got off to a flying start with four wins from their opening four matches, and they have only failed to win four times from twelve matches so far, drawing each of those.
They have scored a league-leading 26 goals so far, with veteran Colombian striker Angelo Balanta responsible for five of those with Henry Hearn and captain Tom Wraight contributing four a piece.
Last time out in the league the Urchins left it very late, winning and dispatching a penalty in the 95th minute to emerge 3-2 victors against Bath City.
Despite occupying top spot in the table until this Tuesday, they have drawn against opposition who are not near the top of the table. In August they were held to a point by lowly Salisbury in a thrilling 3-3 encounter, and more recently they have drawn three of their last five in the league to Ebbsfleet, Dover, and Horsham respectively.
The overall head to head is decent reading for the Beavers who have faced the Urchins seven times prior but have only tasted defeat once, which was at Beveree stadium last season.
Last year’s away tie finished 1-1, and overall HRBFC have won three times and drawn a further three in seven encounters with Hornchurch.
Alan Julian in his post-match interview stressed that the atmosphere in the dressing room remained positive despite another result which did not go the teams way, and the fans in the ground have supported the manager and his squad well so far this season, indicative of the trust placed in the manager and his staff.
It will no doubt be a tough test in East London, but Hampton & Richmond Borough remained determined to get back to winning ways, starting Saturday.
Up The Beavers,
By Jack Lonergan