Comment – From unwanted club records to brink of the play-offs, home form is key to Hawks’ remarkable turnaround of result

It is, by any stretch of the imagination, a remarkable turnaround.
James Roberts scores Hawks' third goal in their 3-0 win over Hampton & Richmond. Picture by Dave HainesJames Roberts scores Hawks' third goal in their 3-0 win over Hampton & Richmond. Picture by Dave Haines
James Roberts scores Hawks' third goal in their 3-0 win over Hampton & Richmond. Picture by Dave Haines

Hawks’ weekend home win over Hampton & Richmond helped open up a three-point cushion in the race for a National League South play-off place.

Four points from their Bank Holiday Monday trip to Hemel Hempstead and next weekend’s huge Westleigh Park showdown with Chippenham will clinch a top seven place.

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A top seven place that looked highly unlikely just a few months ago.

Hawks could even seal a play-off spot on Monday if they beat Hemel and Chippenham fail to win. A Hawks draw would be enough if Chippenham lost.

But given that the Wiltshire club are home to a Hungerford side who have lost five on the bounce and eight of their last 10, chances are it will all go down to the wire on Saturday, May 7.

Chippenham – a club whose first taste of step 6 football only arrived in 2017 - have done brilliantly to sustain a play-off challenge; Hawks – though armed with a far bigger budget – have done brilliantly to haul themselves back into the promotion picture.

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Having their play-off destiny in their own hands, with 180 minutes of the league campaign remaining, is a fact everyone connected with Hawks would have found hard to accept in mid-February.

Ahead of Ebbsfleet’s visit on February 19, Hawks were languishing in 14th place, just five points ahead of third-bottom Welling. They were nine points adrift of seventh-placed Eastbourne; ten adrift, if you factored in an inferior goal difference.

Hawks had failed to win any of their previous nine home league fixtures, banking just four points and scoring just five times. They had failed to win any of their last nine league games home or away, picking up just three points - a run which had begun with a club record 8-0 hammering at Dorking on Boxing Day. No doubt some fans had written off the season.

But no. A 4-2 victory over Ebbsfleet, including goals from recent signings Stefan Payne and Manny Duku, was the catalyst for a stunning upturn in performances and results.

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Yesterday’s 3-0 home success against in-form Hampton & Richmond was Hawks’ seventh win in a run of just one loss in 13 games. In those matches, they have collected 26 points - exactly two per game. Promotion winning form, easily. And their only loss was to Maidstone, crowned champions this weekend.

Compare those 26 points from 13 games, with the 10 points Hawks had picked up from their previous 13 NLS fixtures.

And compare these stats too. After just five goals and four points in nine home games, Doswell’s men have now fired 22 goals and picked up 19 points from their last seven Westleigh Park fixtures. Their last three home wins have been 4-0, 3-0 (albeit those three goals against Eastbourne were scored against eight men) and 3-0. Talk about timing a play-off run to perfection.

Of course, there is still work to do. Still more time for twists and turns. Yes, Hawks could seal a play-off place with victory over Chippenham. As we all know, though, there is a flipside to that equation …

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And even if a play-off place is secured - in a campaign which has featured stunning bad luck with injuries as well as the collection of unwanted club records - Hawks would need three wins to book a National League return.

If they finish seventh, they will require three away wins. If the final table mirrored the current one, they would travel to Ebbsfleet in their first play-off tie. Win that, and they would return to Kent to face Dartford (just one home loss all season, and that to the champions). Win that, and Hawks could well have to return to Dorking Wanderers, scene of their Boxing Day humiliation, for a place in top tier of non-league football.

What a play-off final that would be, Dorking v Hawks!

The highest Hawks could finish is sixth, but they would need to win their last two games and hope Eastbourne - away to Tonbridge and home to Dartford - pick up fewer than two points due to the Sussex club’s superior goal difference.

If they did finish sixth, they would travel to the fifth-placed finishers (probably Oxford City) in the play-offs. The winners would travel to Dorking for a place in the final.

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Yes, I know, I know - I am getting ahead of myself here. Doswell and co aren’t even guaranteed a play-off place at present. This is football. Anything can happen. After all, who would have thought in mid-February we’d be talking about the play-offs at all …?