"Bucks kick off the Easter weekend with a Good Friday game against Redditch"

Match Date : March 29th, 2024 3:00 pm
Competition : Southern League Premier Central
Ground : New Bucks Head
Kick Off : 15:00

The Bucks will take on fellow promotion hopefuls Redditch on Good Friday.

The Reds finished 9th last season and have kicked on again this campaign. Currently 5th, Redditch have been in the top three for a good chunk of the season, but any outside chance of a title tilt has faded away this month with the Reds suffering four defeats out of four in March.

That run has coincided exactly with Matt Clarke’s absence from the dugout. The Redditch boss has had to temporarily step away from football for personal reasons, and the Reds have clearly missed his influence on the team – failing even to score in each of their four games without him.

Clarke, who played for the Bucks during the old Telford United’s final season, took his place in the Reds’ hot seat not long after the pandemic saved Redditch from certain relegation. The Reds were rock bottom of the league when the 2019–20 season was curtailed in March 2020, but in the two full seasons with Clarke in charge Redditch have finished 15th and 9th.

Redditch have two of the division’s top scorers in Alex Cameron and Reece Flanagan. Centre forward Cameron, who is in his third spell with the Reds, helped Rushall Olympic to promotion last season, while Redditch captain Reece Flanagan is among the division’s most consistent midfielders. Both have scored 12 league goals so far this season.

The sides played out a 1-1 draw back in August, while the Bucks have not lost to the Reds on home soil (as AFC Telford United), winning two and drawing one of the encounters at the New Bucks Head. Redditch do have the league’s second-best away record though, so Kevin Wilkin’s men will need to be on their mettle, as both sides look for three points to aid respective promotion pushes.

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MATCHDAY INFORMATION

Tickets for Friday’s fixture will remain on sale up until kick-off and are available for purchase online in advance. See our ticketing page for further details.