National 2 East Prospects

I suppose you could have all first placed teams playing second placed ones, but always like the idea if you win the league you go up by right.

HOT STAT

You lost to Bridgwater in a play-off in 2004/5 - Not sure but I think that's your only play-off appearance. 

Be careful what you wish for 

Worthing beat Bracknell (at Worthing) in the 2007/8 play-off to gain promotion to the National League (the old Nat 3(S)). In the 2012/13 play-off they defeated Stourbridge (at Stourbridge) to gain promotion to National 1.

Islander/Camquin......apologies for the factual inaccuracy.....just lazy on my part.  It was a tongue in cheek observation, predicated on the fact that by and large, the southern representatives have won the playoffs.

Lastly.....and in retrospect of course, I completely agree with a neutral venue for a playoff.  Relative standings do not take into consideration the strengths of the leagues each team are competing in.

FWIW......the South have had the home tie 11 times out of 18, and lead the results in those games by 14 wins to to 4 defeats. 

And by the way, I should have mentioned the Oaks......an excellent 5pt home win under pressure....that tripartite scrap at the bottom remains very interesting......nobody giving an inch.  If I had to guess, I think it might be Rochford for the drop.

Your chaps only need another 10pts to clinch the title now.....so near the finishing line.  BSE will be a tough test though.....they are in fine form and scoring a lot of points.  You will indeed need to start better against them.

It looks like there will almost certainly be two northern sides relegated now......so a level transfer of sorts will be required.  Maybe Taunton or Esher joining them ?  Perhaps still......Chinnor, though less likely.  I guess Esher would come East and one of the other two, West.

I don't yet know how they will manage this situation, but it seems to me that one northern side will have to go East or West ?  That is not great from a travelling perspective ? 

They were level transferred three years ago into the stronger (matter of opinion) Nat2S, but made a decent fist of it.  There was a need for a level transfer again the next season, but instead of taking the easier option of going back North, they elected to stay South, correctly imo, believing that this would be better preparation for their longer term ambitions.

They did improve again in their second season against much stern opposition, and now sit top of Nat2W......and entry to level 3 beckons.  Well done them....I hope they enjoy it.  Level 3 is my personal favourite as a spectator.  I hope my lot make it back there while I still live !!  

Hi Hawks. Its a matter of opinion according to your allegience. If I recall correctly in recent times Dorking have met Hawks 4 times, winning twice at your place, and Hawks have won twice at The Big Field. This season both wins have been by 4/5 points and very close games. We were a lot stronger at Dry Leas this season, and whilst I make no public excuses Hawks deserved their narrow win on saturday. For me I agree with Darth. We have come through a difficult and demanding 5 games against teams that seem to be improving towards the end of the season, whereas our surprises happened earlier in the season. We lost with the final kick of the game against Bury twice, and lost by narrow margins at Worthing, Guernsey, Bury, and to Hawks on saturday. We also seem to have thrown away good advantages in the process. As I said I make no public excuses but there are reasons to query the turnaround in form after what has been IMO a very impressive return to L4. Dorking have attracted a lot of decent players who have integrated smoothly with our own home grown players, and I understand the cameradery, bonding and team spirit is second to none at the club. An enormous credit must go to our DOR, his coaching staff and all the backroom team. On a personal note we are possibly Miffed at losing our lofty position but are close enough in 5th to end the season well. I am certain everyone at the club is more than happy with the team performance this season.   

I think another poster explained that the average points measure was introduced in the covid effected season when we were not going to be able to complete the fixture list.

I did try and provoke some debate (unsuccessfully) as to which team might be deemed the overachievers this season, and which would .....by contrast.....be the biggest underachievers.

In the latter category, I think Canterbury will be most disappointed in their relative league position.

I still reckon the overachiever 'award' should go to Barnes or the Dorks.  Probably the latter as they have stepped up a level (theoretically), but this is the best Barnes team that I have seen over the years.

Often.....as I recall....a bit of a yoyo side......too good for level 5 but struggling to survive at level 4.  

Great seasons for both really