- Harborough have won 12, drawn three and lost only three of 18 league away fixtures.
- St Ives Town have drawn their last home fixture and are winless in five, drawing two and losing three.
- Harborough have conceded only 17 goals in 18 away league fixtures this term, an average of 0.94 per game.
Harborough’s hard-to-beat mindset to pay dividends
Harborough Town’s hard-to-beat philosophy should ensure they grind out a result when they travel to St Ives Town in the Southern League Premier Division Central on Friday.
The league leaders have won two and drawn three of their last five league fixtures, but are coming off consecutive 2-2 draws. Their 84 points from 37 matches suggests that they have been the class of the Southern League Premier Division Central this season, so Harborough are a fair bet at 37/100 to earn the three points on Friday.
St Ives Town, who have no win in their last five, are understandably long shots at 593/100. Ricky Marheineke’s men have won five, drawn seven and lost six of their 18 home fixtures this season, scoring only 22 goals on their own patch. Town’s 34 points after 37 games puts them in 19th spot and they have been inconsistent all season long.
Harborough boss Mitch Austin spent time as an assistant at St Ives and will know his former charges well, so this fixture has a little added spice to it. Austin’s men have built their success this term on the back of a solid defensive block, patient build-up play and aerial prowess. Harborough are not an explosive side and have not been great goal-getters, but they are a team that can punish teams for their mistakes with their physical presence in the box and set-pieces.
St Ives will want to disrupt Harborough’s flow
Marheineke sets his St Ives team up to play at pace and will want to unsettle Harborough with fluid attacking transitions and short, sharp pressing bursts.
Harborough have never won away at St Ives, which makes this clash interesting for a number of reasons, but it is hard to get away from their outstanding away form, so we’re taking them to snag the three points on the road.
A value bet might be on ‘Under 2.5 goals’ at 123/100, however, because Harborough have the habit of grinding out results even in games where they don’t play their best football. St Ives’ Michael Richens is in great form, having scored two of his side’s six goals in the last five games, and he might be able to provide them a goal in a tight match.
