It has been well over a month since Airbus UK Broughton played their last match in the JD Cymru North, beating Llanhaeadr 5-1 at The Airfield, but The Wingmakers finally make their return to competitive football on Saturday, as they travel to fourth placed Ruthin Town.
Airbus are unbeaten in eight games in all competitions but will face a unique challenge when coming up against Ruthin, who are vastly exceeding their expectations from the start of the campaign.
The visitors know that they travel west with a target on their back as they are the team to beat this season, giving the hosts an extra incentive to claim the scalp of the division’s top side.
The Wingmakers Writer spoke exclusively to manager Steve O’Shaughnessy ahead of the match, and he confirmed an almost full bill of health for his side, telling us “we’ve got one out at the moment with injury, but the rest should be fully fit”.
It seems like Airbus have not had such a large selection of players at their disposal for the majority of the season, with COVID and injuries always preventing players from featuring.
However, the one blessing of the prolonged break over the festive period is that it gave the playing staff time to recover, rest, and be prepared for the rest of the season, giving O’Shaughnessy a lot of options ahead of the Ruthin clash.
Opposition
Ruthin Town, who sit fourth in the table on 32 points, have emerged as the surprise package this campaign, will be looking to push on further during the second half of the season and give as best an account of themselves as possible.
Their top scorer is Matthew Hill, who has amassed an impressive 11 goals so far this campaign, and although he has not quite hit the heights of Adam Davies’ 23 goals, he will still likely prove to be a handful for Lewis Dutton and his back-line on Saturday.
Defensively, the hosts have conceded 26 goals in the league, by far the worst defensive record in the top four, meaning that Davies and the Airbus attack should be able to exploit their frailties there, and convert a few of the chances that they will get.
Prediction
Ruthin Town 1-3 Airbus UK Broughton.
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