Barlows Braced for Banstead

Matchday 7 in the Combined Counties Premier Division South for Tadley is a home fixture against a Banstead Athletic side who have so far had a difficult start to their 2022/23 campaign.

We go into the weekend off the back of our 8th win in 9 after overcoming Hellenic League side Calne Town on penalties in the FA Vase, reaching the first round proper for the first time since 2019. It has been confirmed that we will face Guildford City at Barlows Park in the 1st round.

With 20 goals scored in the league already this season, we have picked up 12 points from a possible 18 in the league and look in great form ahead of the weekends fixture. Joint manager Ben Dillon told us 'That we are seeing that winning mentality right now. We weren't at our best against Calne Town however we dug deep and grinded out the result. This is the same mentality that we need to take into Saturday. This is a league where anyone can take points from anyone and we need to go into each game fully focused. Work harder than our opponents, fight harder than our opponents and earn the right to play football.'

We are expecting to welcome back both Dean Stow (Injury) & Joe Cummusky (Cup tied) from last week and also looking to bring in a couple of new signings ahead of the weekend

Our visitors come into the game off the back of 2 defeats in the past 7 days.

On Saturday 24th they visited in-form Knaphill who left it late to open the scoring on the 73rd minute. They doubled their lead with a penalty in the 84th. Banstead got one back in added time.

Wednesday just gone, Banstead were o their travels again, making the short journey to Cobham where they came away from a tightly contested game with a 2 goal deficit. Cobham 2-0 Banstead Athletic.

Banstead will be putting everything on the line to pick up their first win of the season on Saturday and Ben Dillon knows the threat they will pose.

'We are expecting a very tough game Saturday, any complacency and we'll be punished. It's a very tough level that we play at and we need to be focused from the first whistle to the last.'

A Brett Denham goal on Saturday will see his total for Tadley-Calleva hit 250. A huge milestone in his career.

We look forward to welcoming you all on Saturday afternoon to Barlows Park Kick off 15:00