In very cold conditions at The Black Gold Stadium on Saturday the Dolphins earned a well-deserved point against a hardworking, promotion seeking Bracknell Town. Both sides came close to breaking the deadlock but it wasn’t to be, so we saw the second goalless match at home this season.
The first goalless fixture was the stalemate against Hungerford Town on 16th November when both sides finished the match with ten men. In that game Jamie Whisken was shown a second yellow in the 83rd minute and Ramarni Medford-Smith followed him into the dressing room in the dying moments of the game. The clubs meet again on Saturday when we make the trip to Bulpit Lane to play the reverse fixture. The Crusaders were one of the pre-season favourites for promotion after finishing just outside of the play-off places in the last campaign.
However things haven’t gone exactly to plan as they find themselves in 16th place in the table (P24 W6 D8 L10 26 points). They come into the match on the back of 2-1 home win against Sholing on Tuesday evening. Goals from Jose Marquez and Luke Softley securing all three points, they have now won 5 games at Bulpit Lane drawn 3 and lost 3 and play in front of an average crowd of 365. Their best home performance of the season was the astonishing 9-3 rout of Plymouth Parkway in September.
The Crusaders are managed by Danny Robinson who made the switch to Hungerford Town after five very successful years with Thatcham Town. One of his most proud and memorable moments at the club was winning the FA Vase at Wembley in 2018 and he also won the Hellenic League title and guided the Kingfishers to promotion to the Southern League Division 1 South. Robinson was on the verge of another promotion with Thatcham before the season was null and voided due to Covid-19 in 2020 and he joined the Crusaders in early May.
The club have suffered several injuries to key players in recent weeks so Robinson has brought in two new signings. Firstly, the exciting striker Anthony Dwyer who joined from Midlands side Walsall Wood, the 28-year-old has also played for Matlock, Stourbridge & Leamington. The second signing is Hani Berchiche the attacking midfielder who has been duel registered from Hayes and Yeading FC. A classy player with an eye for a goal and a killer pass. Danny Robinson said on this signing “I am delighted to welcome Hani to the club. A player who I have admired for a long time he is a player that fits what we want from a player. A top player and it’s brilliant we finally get to work together”.
After the home draw last Saturday, we are now in 17th place in the table (P23 W6 D8 L9 26 points) and now over halfway through the season. There is no doubt that the next few games will go a long way to determine our final league position. Looking at our forthcoming fixtures we are still to play 3 of the current top ten sides at home which means we play 6 of the teams who are currently below half way in the table. Away from home, we will play 4 of the current top ten and 6 of the teams below mid-table. With the departure of Steve Tully this week it’s going to be a very interesting second half of the season.
Dolphin fans have been ecstatic over the performances of keeper Ben Taylor, he has been deputising for Cam Pain who was sent off at Taunton and has served his 3-match ban. He has certainly given the new management a difficult decision to make.
Enjoy the game
Neil Wellington
