Photo: Wrexham AFC
This weekend sees two pivotal National League play-off semi-finals. Wrexham take on Grimsby Town on Saturday, while Sunday has Solihull Moors playing Chesterfield. So who will be booking their tickets to play in the National League play-off final on Sunday, 5 June?
Saturday lunchtime will see Wrexham hosting Grimsby Town in the first play-off semi-final. Wrexham finished second-place in the National League table and could have been champions had they not slipped up towards the end of the season.
Grimsby have done it the hard way. Finishing sixth in the table with scorelines like 4-4 away to Eastleigh might not have been part of the plan, but Grimsby definitely know how to get the job done.
This was something seen in the Mariners’ thrilling 2-1 away win at Notts County in the National League quarter-final play-offs. It was a bitterly fought game that was goalless until the 73rd minute when Ruben Rodrigues put the home side ahead. But Grimsby hung on in there and were rewarded for their efforts when Gavan Holohan scored the equaliser six minutes into stoppage time.
Substitute Emmanuel Dieseruvwe scored Grimsby’s winner in the 119th minute and, while they’ll be the underdogs in Saturday’s game, they give the Dragons a run for their money. It’s expected that 1,200 Grimsby fans will be there in North Wales, and with Wrexham showing some poor form at the end of the season, it’s clear that anything could happen.
Few people would have backed Chesterfield to make it through to the National League play-off semi-finals. After all, the Blues only just sneaked into the play-offs. However, Chesterfield have shown some impressive resolve and they’ll play Solihull Moors at 12:30 on Sunday.
This came after a fine 2-1 victory away over Halifax Town in the National League quarter-final play-offs. It was a game that saw Chesterfield finally overcoming their inconsistent form, and once Daniel Rowe and Jeff King put the Blues 2-0 up, there was little that Halifax could do about it.
Much of this was down to the sheer noise made by the 2,000 travelling Chesterfield fans, however, it looks like Chesterfield will only be allocated 600 tickets for their game at Solihull Moors.
It’s a game that could go truly either way. While Solihull ended up third-placed in the National League, a good four places and 13 points ahead of Chesterfield, both teams have shown themselves to be equally balanced in head-to-head encounters.
Last November saw Chesterfield beating Solihull 2-0 away, but Solihull got their revenge by coming back from two goals down to win 3-2 at Chesterfield in February. All of which means that there should be a hugely entertaining game this Sunday.
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