MATCH PREVIEW: Wimborne Town vs Walton & Hersham

Wimborne Town FC | 15 March 2026 | Copy link
Just three days after failing to break down the massed defence of the team at the bottom of our league, Wimborne face the free-scoring team at the top - Walton and Hersham. The Swans serenely sailed to the summit in September, and have stayed there ever since. And that was despite manager Billy Rowley departing for National League Yeovil Town in late November. Jakub Pietrzak took over, and, as well as keeping the team at the top of the tree, he master-minded a run to Round Five of the FA Trophy.

 

This fixture was originally scheduled for the last day of January but was postponed because of The Swans’ excellent exploits in that national competition. After knocking out National South Farnborough and National League Sutton Utd and Brackley Town, they finally succumbed 2-1 to National League Woking in the round of the last sixteen, a remarkable achievement for a team at Step 3.

 

Impressive though that cup run was, their league stats are even more so. They have a W25 D4 L4 GF 80 GA 29 record – not surprisingly they’ve scored the most goals of any team – Dawid Rogalski has netted 20 times, Johl Powell 19, and Jack Wood 13, and conceded the fewest with 14 clean sheets. On their travels their record is W10 D2 L3. Before downing high-flying Farnham 1-0 on Saturday, they’d scored 16 in winning their previous four – Plymouth (a) 4-0, Basingstoke (h) 6-2, Yate (h) 3-1, and Havant (a) 3-1. Not surprisingly they sit top of the current form table too.

 

We’ve played The Swans three times in the Southern Prem, and lost each time: last season it was 4-0 at New Cuthbury, and 2-1 at The Elmbridge Hub, and 1-0 away in October when Johl Powell scored the vital goal on 10 minutes.

 

Given all The Swans’ impressive stats, are there any glimmers of hope for The Magpies? Of course there are. Here are reasons to be cheerful - one, two, three:

  • The Swans’ three league defeats on the road have all been on grass pitches – Hanwell (0-1), Weymouth (1-3), and Hungerford (0-1 a month ago);
  • The Swans have yet to win in Dorset this season – Dorchester (3-3 – Dorch led 3-0 at the end of normal time), Poole (2-2), and Weymouth (1-3 in January);
  • Last season, after a mediocre couple of winter months, Tim’s team blossomed against the top two - monopolising Merthyr in a 1-1 draw, before toppling Totton 3-1.

 

Although Wimborne’s recent form has been disappointing, Tim’s team remains 12th with a W10 D12 L11 GF 46 GA 44 record; at The Wyatt Homes Stadium it’s W8 D7 L2, with both those defeats being in Dorset derbies. We have kept clean sheets in our last two home games.

 

A bright note in Saturday’s frustrating fixture against the young Tivvy side was the performance of substitute Ethan Sills, on loan from AFCB U18s, with his pin-point dead-ball deliveries. But seeing Owen Roundell helped off the pitch was a real downer. He joins Josh McQuoid and Joe Smith on the recently-injured list.

 

On Tuesday evening, the table-toppers, led by the vastly experienced Joey Jones, will be hot favourites to take all three points. But our boys will relish the opportunity to test themselves against the best, and there was little between the teams back in October.

 

Including this one, there’s just four home games left this season, and you won’t want to miss any of them as the boys give their all to achieve the Club’s highest-ever finish in the non-league pyramid. So layer up, bring a torch, and come on down to The Wyatt Homes Stadium and cheer the boys on. After all, it’s what Tuesday evenings under the floodlights were made for.

 

Match Info:

  • As there's limited parking at the ground in Ainsley Road BH21 2FU, if you can travel by bus, bike, or on foot it would be really helpful. If you do decide to travel by car and park on the nearby streets, please do so respectfully to our neighbours.
  • The Morebus no.13 runs along Leigh Road from and to The Square in the town centre with stops at the bottom of Parmiter Road, a five-minute stroll from the ground.
  • There is a bike park near the players' entrance.
  • A packed printed programme will, of course, be on sale.
  • Admission: Adults £14, concessions £8, U18s £5, U13s £2.
  • Weather Forecast: Clear; 8oC; <5% chance of rain.