Having secured four points from their last two matches, Gary Johnson’s men will be looking to back those results up with another positive one tomorrow, as Wealdstone head to Devon.
With the two sides separated by just one point in the early National League table, it promises to be another closely-fought encounter when the teams emerge at 3pm tomorrow.
Who’s the Boss?
Having played for the Club in the 1990s himself, Stuart Maynard was appointed as First Team Manager in March, on a deal which will see him remain at the club until 2022. Maynard had been the Stones’ caretaker manager for the previous month, during which the side won two out of seven league matches and were 19th in the table, six points above the relegation zone.
Maynard was previously Assistant Manager at Grosvenor Vale and during his first season, was part of the management team that secured the National League South title in 2020.
Player to Watch
Medy Elito signed on at Grosvenor Vale over the summer following a year out of the game. The 31-year-old had previously spent two seasons at Barnet but is most known for his stint at Dagenham & Redbridge where he made 136 appearances across four seasons when the Daggers played in League One and League Two – he also scored 20 goals in this period.
Born in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), Elito has represented England from U17 TO U19 level, and in 2007, was part of the England squad at the FIFA U17 World Cup. He has also enjoyed spells at the likes of Colchester United, Cheltenham Town, Cambridge United, Newport County and Netherlands side VVV-Venlo.
Elito is a renowned attacking midfielder known to create goal-scoring opportunities for his teammates and has scored one goal in six appearances for the Stones so far this season.
Played for Both
Josh Umerah arrived at Plainmoor in September 2020 and during his time at United, the 23-year-old made 32 appearances and scored 5 goals. Umerah departed United over the summer and along with Matt Buse, signed on at Wealdstone.
He has also had spells at the likes of Charlton Athletic and Wycombe Wanderers. Umerah previously had National League experience at Boreham Wood in 2018/19 where he scored 6 goals in 21 appearances before signing on at Ebbsfleet United where he made 24 appearances and scored 4 goals.
Since arriving at Grosvenor Vale over the summer, Umerah has made 8 appearances for the Stones and has tallied 5 goals so far this season.
Previous Encounter
United’s march towards the 2018/19 National League South title was already in full swing by the time Bobby Wilkinson’s side strode into Plainmoor to contest what turned out to be a five-goal thriller.
Two goals in the space of eight first-half minutes from Kalvin Kalala and Jamie Reid looked to have put The Gulls set the stage for a comfortable afternoon’s work for Gary Johnson’s men, however Jeffrey Monakana’s reply just before the interval kept the visitors in touch, to set up a slightly nervy second half.
Those nerves looked to have been finally extinguished Jean-Yves Koue Niate restored his side’s two-goal buffer with nineteen minutes remaining, however once again the Stones reduced the arrears, with Jerome Okimo making it 3-2 some 120 seconds later. The Yellow Army helped see their heroes home though, as they were left to celebrate three valuable points after an excellent afternoon’s entertainment.