This game was waved off ten days ago as the pitch at Lowfield had taken a hammering from several days of heavy rain and was in not fit state to host such a contest. However, with the weather set fair this week and the ground in splendid condition once again, 6th place hosts 5th in this crucial tussle.

The Cannon's Wood league record this season reads played 20, won 11, drawn 2, lost 7 with a goal difference of +7 and 35 points on the board. This places them one place above Hoddesdon by a solitary point, although the Lilywhites have a game in hand over the Essex based outfit. It has been a strange season already for the visitors, often showing their usual brilliance, but in equal measure, offering up some truly baffling performances and results. You need look no further than the last outing for our opponents, a quite jaw dropping 7-0 home defeat to 13th placed FC Baresi on Friday evening. The performance was so bad that the official club X account has made no reference to the game, other than tweeting the starting line up prior to kick off. You can watch all SEVEN goals by clicking HERE or click HERE for extended match highlights.

Indeed, the result will want to be buried even further on Tuesday evening and Hoddesdon will have to be wary of the backlash. An opportunity to put things right after smarting all weekend will be very welcome to the team, the management, and no doubt, the chairman. The last win came back on the 23rd of November, a 4-3 home win against Hackney Wick.

The away game to AS London on the 30th of November was abandoned towards the end of the game with Cannon's Wood losing 6-4, due to, according to social media reports, allegations of racism aimed, allegedly, at the home team and accusations of club officials running onto the pitch, and whilst we are not in a position to comment on any of what took place that day, we certainly hope that any behaviour of that sort is kept well away from Lowfield on Tuesday. The outcome of any league or FA investigation should be taken into account, however, there is no place for racism in football, at any level, and we stand shoulder to shoulder with those who continuously fight to kick it out of our beautiful game.

Another interesting twist to this game is the recent signing of Stuart Zanone by our visitors. Zanone signed for Hoddesdon from Hutton FC at the end of September, played three games, scored two goals, and then promptly upped sticks and left, for the bright lights of the Parkside Stadium in Aveley, the ground Cannon's Wood hire to play their home games. It's anyones guess as to what it was exactly that lured Zanone away from Lowfield and far out of the remit of this reporter to speculate which figure played a significant part, and so I will leave it up to you, the reader, to draw your own conclusions. Since signing however, Zanone has notched 5 goals in 6 games and remains the league's top goalscorer currently, with 22 goals in 23 games, across the three different teams he has played for so far this season. Stuart's quality up top is well known in non league circles, and Hoddesdon will have to be on guard to shut him out.

Shutting the opponents out was exactly what Hoddesdon did to Cannon's Wood last time they met however.

Two early goals from Ben Clarke alongside strikes from Arnis Lala and Connor Bolton sent the Lilywhites into dreamland back on the 30th of August as Hoddesdon swept aside the hosts in comprehensive fashion, soundly beating Cannon's Wood on their own turf. Indeed, the host's X account tweeted after the game 'That was a shambolic performance tonight. No excuses for that. The referee was excellent. We were s***! Well done Hoddesdon. Fully deserved...'

High praise indeed....

In this fixture last season, a close-range effort from Lilywhites skipper Jack Gibbs, deep into time-added-on rescued a well-deserved point against their high-flying visitors.

In an highly-competitive game, the Lilywhites twice needed to come from a goal behind to earn a draw but, in truth, there was very little to choose between the teams and a draw was probably a fair result. Ironically, though, although he was twice beaten, Lilywhites custodian, Liam Nugent, was not required to make a save of any note and the Lilywhites were disappointed with the two goals that they conceded.

The first half ended goalless but was not short of action. The early part of the second half saw the Lilywhites in command, forcing a free-kick on the edge of the box and two successive corners in the opening six minutes. And twice the visitors were forced to clear goal-bound efforts off their line. It was therefore against the run of play when the visitors scored the opening goal. A corner from the left caused chaos in the Lilywhites’ six-yard box which was ended when Elliott Scott was able to apply the finishing touch.

Their lead didn’t last long, however, because less than four minutes Harrison Cage popped up at the near post to head home a Conor Bolton cross for the equaliser.

The Lilywhites continued to have slightly the better things but, with both teams defending well, it looked as if they might be forced to settle for a draw. That changed dramatically, though, when with an isolated attack the visitors won a free kick outside the box on the left flank with five minutes of normal time remaining. The resulting kick was aimed at the far post and, with a mass of players attacking the ball, it unfortunately went into the goal off a shoulder of a Lilywhites defender. With so little time remaining it seemed that the Lilywhites might have to settle for a disappointing defeat but they weren’t prepared to go down without a fight. With the visitors pleading with the referee to blow for time, the Lilywhites won a corner on the right. Conor Bolton swung his kick into the goalmouth causing the Wood keeper to punch the ball up in the air and when it came back down Jack Gibbs was on hand to tap home for a well-deserved and earned equaliser.

And so to Tuesday.

Hoddesdon come into the game off the back of a fine 4-2 away win at North West London. A double strike from Jason Brown with Bolton and Agnew adding more in the second half, saw Simon Riddle's men grab all three points in a superb team performance and a great game of football. The win kept Hoddesdon well within touching distance of the play off places and a win midweek against the 5th placed side would further boost promotion hopes as we head into Christmas.

The Bar and Tea Bar will be open all evening, serving hot and cold refreshments and Lowfield365 Members will enjoy up to 20% discount on their round at the bar. You can sign up today by heading to our online club shop or speaking to a member of the bar team.

Kick Off is 7:45pm and Entry is £8 Adults and £5 Concessions, Under 12s FREE.

Enjoy the game.

#COYL