The second half of the Skybet League 2 Easter period double header will be played on Monday afternoon with 18 of the 24 sides in action after a couple of postponements have affected the card. With a storm going through the country more matches could fall foul to the weather but we’ll preview the matches that are on at the time of writing.
Mondays Skybet League 2 Fixtures
Barnet v Luton
Cambridge v Oxford Utd
Carlisle v Bristol Rovers
Crawley v Exeter
Leyton Orient v Hartlepool
Mansfield v Northampton
Newport v Accrington
Notts County v Wycombe
Plymouth v York
With the weather the way it is and most sides playing a second game in four days this definitely doesn’t feel like a day to be taking short priced sides so we can immediately rule Oxford, Leyton Orient and Plymouth out of our plans although the latter two would never have been in mine anyway.
Having been to Newport on a wet and windy day myself earlier in the season I saw first hand just how much of a lottery matches can become on the wretched pitch down there so I’m going nowhere near the Newport vs Accrington game while Crawley is quite open to the elements too so that is another game to avoid.
One side I was thinking of taking was Bristol Rovers up at Carlisle but after overnight rain going through the country what state that pitch will be in is anyone’s guess. Mansfield’s pitch might not suit Northampton so I’ll avoid them while with matches being called up throughout the London area today Barnet vs Luton will be a tough grind if it goes ahead.
In the end I’m going with two today. The first is a fade of Leyton Orient who host a Hartlepool side who are repeating their form of this time last season. They produced a miracle escape around this time last year and while this year’s escape won’t be quite so dramatic they are unbeaten in five and pulling away nicely.
There are few more inconsistent sides that Leyton Orient in this division but I can speak from experience when I say they struggle to break sides who defend deep at home. They looked clueless against Luton three weeks ago and they’ve lost three of their last five at Brisbane Road.
Statistically Hartlepool are the second worst side in the division away from home but they are undefeated in three away from the Victoria Ground with a win at Barnet and goalless draws at Newport and Crawley. That shows they can keep it tight and they can frustrate Orient enough to get a result there.
Mark Cooper’s reign in charge of Notts County didn’t begin well on Friday when they were given a good hiding by Portsmouth on Friday and now they host another promotion chaser in Wycombe who are just starting to find some form again.
I’m always wary of the new manager effect but it is going to take more than three days for Cooper to patch up a defence that has shipped eight goals in its last two matches. That leads me to thinking Wycombe are good things here especially with the draw cover the Asian lines provide.
Wanderers are now undefeated in four matches and with fellow playoff chasers either not playing or having banana skin matches they’ll know this is a chance to put some daylight between them and the pack, a chance I think they’ll take advantage of.
Tips
WON – Back Hartlepool (+0.75AH) to beat Leyton Orient for a 4/10 stake at 2.05 with Bet365
Back them here:
Back Wycombe (-0.25AH) to beat Notts County for a 4/10 stake at 1.94 with Unibet
Back them here:
