After two weeks without a game, we return to action this weekend against a side also in need of points to help them pull away from the relegation places in Hungerford Town.

A fortnight ago, things started excellently for us in our home clash with Dartford, as in front of a capacity crowd, we took an early sixth minute lead, Nana Owusu sweeping home a Kreshnic Krasniqi low cross. However the game would not remain in our favour, with Owusu conceding a penalty on the stroke of half time to allow Samir Carruthers to equalise from the spot. Then, with the Hamlet still looking like they might earn a point, Darts striker Charlie Sheringham was allowed a free header from a Carruthers corner in the 82nd minute to give the visitors the three points.

That result kept us on eight points and meant we are only out of the relegation zone on goal difference, with Hungerford one place below us in the table. Indeed, come full time on Saturday, the defeated side will find themselves in the bottom four, whilst a drawn game could see both sides occupy relegation places should Concord Rangers win at Hampton & Richmond Borough.

Last season, the Crusaders were, like the Hamlet, comfortably in mid-table, with Ryan Seager's 27 league goals propelling them up to 12th. In fact, only Alfie Rutherford of Dorking scored more league goals than Seager with 31, and Seager was to join him at the National League side over the summer, and in his absence, Hungerford have struggled to find the back of the net, only scoring seven times in their twelve games so far. That is the joint-lowest amount in the division with Taunton and Weymouth, and they have failed to score in eight of those matches. The eight goals they have scored this season in all competitions have been scored by eight different players.

However, three of those goals came last time out in an excellent win at Bath City, with debutant Claudio Ofosu scoring in the third minute of injury time to hand them a 3-2 win over the Romans. That came off the back of six successive losses in all competitions, and eight games without a victory. Amongst their ranks is striker Niko Muir, who Hamlet fans will remember from spells with Hendon, where he scored 40 goals in our promotion season, and Billericay, whilst Joel Rollinson has impressed against us in the past for Eastbourne Borough.

We have scored more goals against Hungerford than any other since promotion to the National League South, netting 18 times in seven meetings, and have a pretty positive record too, with five wins in those games. Last season, we won the corresponding fixture at Champion Hill in September, with Darren McQueen, Gio McGregor and Danny Mills netting in a 3-1 victory, in a game which saw us also miss two penalties. However, the Crusaders would get their revenge in the return fixture in January, where despite an equaliser from Ronnie Vint, they would also win by a 3-1 scoreline thanks to goals from Matt Berry-Hargreaves, Seager, and Jake Evans. Only five of the Hamlet squad from that day remain at the club.

Record v Hungerford Town: P8 W6 L2 GF24 GA10
Home: P3 W2 L1 GF8 GA5
Biggest win: 6-0 (A) Isthmian League Cup 1994-95
Biggest loss: 1-3 (A) National League South 2021-22