Head to head – the two strikers who have scored 154 goals in 113 games between them since the start of last season

The two strikers who have netted an astonishing 154 times between them since the start of last season go head to head this weekend.
Jamie White pictured during his time at SouthamptonJamie White pictured during his time at Southampton
Jamie White pictured during his time at Southampton

In the Bush Hill corner, Mark Barker - 80 goals in just 49 matches for the Southampton-based reigning Hampshire Premier League champions since the start of 2017/18.

In the Infinity corner, Jamie White - 74 goals in 64 appearances in the same period.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In all, the pair have collected 154 goals in only 110 appearances.

Both sides have many other players capable of holding their own at a higher level, but it is Barker and White who could go a long way towards deciding the destination of this season’s title race.

Infinity travel to Southampton knowing a first league loss of the season would put them six points adrift of Bush - albeit with two games in hand.

The pair started this week in a three-way tie with Paulsgrove at the head of the table.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Infinity would no doubt have moved clear had their game at rock bottom Liss on Tuesday not been postponed.

That allowed Bush to open up a three-point lead 24 hours later with a 3-0 victory at Stockbridge.

Barker - 62 goals in just 32 outings last season - took this term’s tally to 18 in 11 appearances with a hat-trick.

He is aiming for a third treble in eight days this Saturday, having also bagged three in last weekend’s Southampton Senior Cup win against Priory.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

White’s 24th goal in 17 outings arrived in Infinity’s 8-1 HPL Cup win at Michelmersh last Saturday.

That follows the former Southampton striker’s 50 goals in 47 appearances in 2017/18.

Hardly anything has separated the two clubs in recent times.

Their last clash was a league title decider in April. At the start of the game - the last one of the season for both clubs - Bush and Infinity were locked together on 75 points with the former having a plus five better goal difference.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

For neutrals in a 300-plus crowd, it was a non-event - Bush struck twice early on and ended up romping to the title with a 4-0 win.

Infinity had actually won both previous games that season - 3-2 in the league (courtesy of a late White winner) and 2-1 in the semi final of the HPL Cup just three days before the title decider in Southampton.

In 2017/18, both Bush and Infinity finished level on 66 points behind champions Paulsgrove and both league games between the pair ended 1-1.

Will Barker or White prove the difference between two evenly-matched sides this weekend?