Another Saturday and another voyage up the M23 awaits the Hawks with Surrey the final destination as the switch from league to cup is made with an FA Trophy Third Qualifying Round clash at Chipstead.

Whitehawk still frothing at the mouth following their blistering, ruthless performance at Corinthian on Tuesday night, there is real opportunity for further progression in this competition after sweeping aside Tooting & Mitcham United in the previous round.

 

Last time out

 

Well, it went rather smoothly. Corinthian arrived into Tuesday on the back of three consecutive victories in the league but it didn’t show. The Hawks stunted their opponents, sweeping them aside with a touch of clinical class in a 4-0 victory.

Ross Standen re-shaped his side to the one that fell short at Faversham, with four changes in personnel. It seemed to work. By the half time whistle the side from Brighton had a commanding three goal lead as Charlie Lambert, Javaun Splatt and James Fraser all billowed the netting.

Splatt would have his brace in the second half and Whitehawk would have three valuable points as they climbed to 11th place, their highest position since August 28. It was the ideal response in the aftermath of two league affairs in which the Hawks had failed to record a goal.

 

The opposition

 

Swap your Isthmian South East table for it’s close companion, and there you will find today’s opponents lying 10th in the Isthmian South Central Division. Indeed Chipstead would still be competing in our cozy league if not for the higher powers to place them into their current conference in time for the 2018/19 season.

And since that year they’ve been rather secure. Finishes of 13th, 10th and 13th from their three seasons reinforces this, and they appear on track for further stability. They arrive into this encounter having lost heavily to Bracknell Town last Saturday, as four second half goals condemned ‘The Chips’ to a 5-0 drubbing.

But prior to this they had handed Guernsey a 3-0 defeat. Contrasting performances are a constant in this league, as are goals from Tom Collins, seemingly. The forward has struck thirteen times in all competitions this season and eleven in the league. He leads the league in goals scored and has been a mainstay in the green and white since his arrival from Marlow Town in 2019.

Chipstead reached this round of the competition after cruising past Hashtag United before overcoming Aylesbury United on penalties in the first and second qualifying rounds respectively.