Alan Alger from Blue Square casts his eye over the best bets from the 33 matches in the Blue Square Bet leagues on Bank Holiday Monday.
AFC Wimbledon rose to the top of the early Blue Square Bet Premier table on Saturday afternoon and will look to build on their two-point lead as they host Newport County on Monday. The Wombles have only conceded three goals in their first five matches and consequently are the odd-on favourites at 3/4 for another home victory. Dean Holdsworth’s Newport side have made a slow start to life in this division but have also negotiated some tricky fixtures without losing heavily. Their first win came on Saturday when they beat Kidderminster 3-0 and they will be full of confidence as they try to overcome a quote of 16/5 outsiders for this clash.
Another team to record their first win of the campaign were last season’s losing play-off finalists York City. Three late goals against Altrincham led to a home win that could kickstart their season. They travel to Fleetwood Town who sit in mid-table after a reasonable start to their first campaign at this level. By all accounts the Lancashire outfit struggled to handle Southport on Saturday and will need to bounce back at home here. York are the slight outsiders at 8/5 but with Richard Brodie opening his account with a penalty on Saturday, there could be more to come from Martin Foyle’s men.
The ‘Northants Derby’ between Kettering and Rushden has plenty at stake as both sides aim to strike an early blow in the play-off race. Kettering were another side to get a maiden victory under their belt at the fifth attempt on Saturday, but the value of beating a disrupted Histon side may have skewed the prices for this game. Form going into a local derby can sometimes be overlooked but Rushden’s 4-1 success over a usually defensive Grimsby outfit was a warning shot to the rest of the promotion hopefuls. They’ve only won one of their last six away matches though if we delve back into last season’s results, but were 3-0 winners away at Kettering in late March. They are slight outsiders at 8/5 to register a second 2010 success at the home of their closest rivals.
Hayes & Yeading United will be trying to take a leaf out of Wigan Athletic’s book as they travel to Kenilworth Road to face Luton Town. Wigan overturned last season’s Barclay’s Premier League 9-0 horror-show at White Hart Lane with a 1-0 win on Saturday and Garry Haylock’s men will want to wipe memories of their own rout at the hands of the Hatters last season. That match ended up as an 8-0 home win and Luton are 4/11 to repeat that victory by any scoreline. A repeat of 8-0 is appropriately 80/1. An away win is priced at 13/2 and that will rank around the top 10 of biggest match prices this season in the division.
Other highlights in the Blue Square Bet Premier include an under-pressure Dean Saunders leading his Wrexham team to Bath City aiming to win away for the first time since the final day of last season. They are 8/5 outsiders to do so as punters have deserted the Welsh side in favour of last season’s South division play-off winners. Crawley are a short price at 4/9 to win at home to Forest Green Rovers. Cambridge United are yet to fire this season after pre-season hopes surrounding a title push. It’s early days for a must win match but the home game with Eastbourne Borough is not far off that if the U’s are to challenge. They are 3/4 favourites to get their first win of 2010/11.
In the Blue Square Bet South Bromley are blazing a trail but could come back down to earth when they make the trip to Essex to face Bishop’s Stortford. The prices favour the Kent side but may have overestimated their ability from their 100% start to the season. I’d be backing a home win at a nice price of around 6/4. In the Blue Square Bet North I like the chances of free-scoring Boston United at home to Eastwood Town. The home side can be backed at a price of around 8/11.
Best Bets Treble:
Bishop’s Stortford
Boston United
York City
£10 treble returns approximately £100 with Blue Square
