Hawks on brink of setting new club record as they begin run of four successive Westleigh Park games

After three away games in a row, Paul Doswell’s men welcome Concord Rangers to Westleigh Park on Saturday for a National League South fixture.

Hawks’ 2-0 win at Weymouth last time out extended the club’s unbeaten NLS start to 10 games - eight of which have been wins.

It equals the 10-match unbeaten start in Doswell’s first season with Hawks in 2019/20, which featured five wins and five draws.

Avoiding defeat against Concord, therefore, would set a new Hawks record for the longest unbeaten start to a NLS campaign since the league was formed in 2004.

The all-time club record is the 13-game unbeaten run at the start of the Southern League Premier Division season in 2001/12.

Back then, Hawks - under joint-bosses Liam Daish and Mick Jenkins - won eight and drew five with club record goalscorer James Taylor very much to the forefront.

Taylor struck against both Merthyr (4-0) and Bath (5-2) in successive games in August, and hit a hat-trick in the following month’s 5-0 caning of Hinckley.

There was no happy ending to that season, though, with Hawks finishing third behind champions Kettering (the only club promoted in a pre play-off era) and Tamworth.

This season, Hawks are one of only four clubs in the top six tiers of English football still boasting an unbeaten league record.

Remarkably, three of those records belong to NLS clubs with Ebbsfleet - who have only dropped two points so far in 10 games - and newly-promoted Worthing (five wins, five draws) also still unbeaten.

The other club still unbeaten is one that gets a bit more publicity - Manchester City.

While Hawks are on the brink of a new club record, Concord have only picked up one point in their last six league games.

That came last time out against Worthing in a 1-1 draw in Essex.

Hawks are home again next weekend, to league rivals Weymouth in the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup.

They then have two more home league games in a row - against Oxford City on October 22 and against Bath City the following Wednesday.

Five of Hawks’ next six league games are at Westleigh Park, as a October 29 visit to Cheshunt is followed by the mouthwatering visit of Ebbsfleet (Wednesday, November 2) and Hemel three days later.

Concord last visited Hawks on the corresponding weekend last season. They were 4-0 down at the interval and were eventually beaten 5-2 – the last time Hawks scored five in a league game.

On target that day were Jamie Collins (2), Jake McCarthy, Tommy Wright and Alex Wall.

Billy Clifford is back in contention after missing last weekend’s FA Cup win at Carshalton with a one-game suspension.