Two of the top three in the Middlesex County Football League Premier Division meet as Larkspur Rovers host Clapton CFC men’s first team.
Larkspur are in third and have only lost against title chasing Shepherd’s Bush and Indian Gymkhana. Meanwhile CCFC are top of the league with just one defeat against Kensington Dragons.
Both teams were forced to sit it out last weekend due to frozen pitches, however the forecast for Saturday is a fair bit warmer.
These two sides are always well matched and shared a 1-1 draw at Wadham Lodge Stadium earlier in the season.
The Larks’ scorer in that game, striker Craig Mathieson, is the division’s second top scorer so far with 14 goals (17 including cups), more than half of the team’s total.
However, he’s just behind our own Fred Taylor on 15 (18 including cups) in the chase for the golden boot.
About the opponents
Larkspur Rovers were formed in 1950, joined the Middlesex County Football League in 2013/4, and enjoyed three rapid promotions since then.
The Larks offer football for boys, girls, men and women from four-year-olds to vets based at their new £1million 3G complex. The first team play on a grass pitch on the playing fields.
Brighton & Hove Albion and England under 21 player Tariq Lamptey started out at Larkspur in their youth team, before signing for Chelsea and then the Seagulls.
Match information
Larkspur Rovers vs Clapton CFC is on Saturday, January 28, 2023, kick off 2pm at Lord Halsbury Playing Fields, Priors Farm Lane, Off Eastcote Lane, Northolt UB5 5TB.
Admission is free. Programmes are free (limited run). There’s a bar serving food and drink as well as toilets in the clubhouse.
The ground is a 16-minute walk from Northolt Station on the Central Line.
Full directions from the home side for the tricky final bit: “Upon turning between the BP garage and the Post Office, follow Eastcote Lane down past the park on the left and over the staggered crossroad. Turn left onto Priors Farm Lane and continue over the mini roundabout, past the school on the left and you will see a Welcome To Larkspur Rovers sign on the yellow height restriction. Continue along to the single track lane and you will enter the car park and ground.”