Heybridge Swifts v Felixstowe & Walton.... big match preview

Re-vitalised after a very impressive win at home to Northwood FC in the second round of the Velocity Trophy on Tuesday night, Felixstowe & Walton travel south to The Apen Waite Arena in Essex for their Bostik North encounter with Heybridge Swifts this weekend, looking to move a little closer to the play-off positions, writes Barry Grossmith.

The Seasiders find themselves just two points behind The Swifts on 13 points at present, following a steady start to their 2018/19 campaign.

The Swifts themselves are under new management, with the highly experienced former Liverpool and West Ham star Julian Dicks at the helm, and have recently strengthened at the back with the capture of former Coggeshall skipper Luke Wilson joining a side that has so far seen a total of 12 different players on the scoresheet this season.

Wilson will be well aware of what Felixstowe will bring to this game, having twice faced The Seasiders in promotion battles last year.

As mentioned above, the performance against Northwood on Tuesday was probably Felixstowe’s high point of the season so far.

But the trip to Heybridge will almost certainly be a more difficult day out.

Joint coach Kevin O’Donnell said: “With a new manager and a recent run of form, Heybridge will certainly pose a tough match following Tuesday’s victory in the Velocity Trophy where we produced some great football, especially in the first half.

“We should approach Saturday with confidence and we need to make Tuesday’s performance the benchmark that we should aim to maintain for an entire game.

“If we do, I can only see us getting stronger as the season progresses.”

Confidence can play a big part in football and the boost of the Northwood victory suggest Felixstowe & Walton could actually be hitting form at the right time and be capable of bringing back something from Heybridge.

Nevertheless, everyone at the club is, of course, well aware that over-confidence can be your biggest enemy.

Kevin O’Donnell and Ian Watson will undoubtedly have prepared their side well in advance of this tricky fixture.