Hemel Hempstead v Forest Preview (8-9-12)

FA Cup fever again takes over Waltham Forest as they take part in the first qualifying round of the competition for the second consecutive season.

Last season, we put away Southern League Premier side Hitchin Town 2-0, thanks to goals from Jeff Hammond and Billy Melton. This time around, we again face Southern League Premier opposition, in the form of Hemel Hempstead Town.

Saturday’s match will be the 9th time the two sides have met since 1995.

We first met on the 19th of August 2000, when Hemel ran out 6-1 winners. We have only ever beaten Hemel once in the side’s 8 encounters. This victory came on the 11th of September 2001, when a Billy Cove double and a hat trick from C(?) Campbell helped us win 5-1. Interestingly, Matt Waldron played that day, and should be in the squad to face Hemel again 11 years later, almost to the day.

The last meeting between the two sides was in the Ryman League Division 1 North, when Hemel won 1-0 on their way to promotion that season.

After being given a reprieve from relegation at the end of the 2011-12 season, our opponents have had a very good start this time around. They sat top of the pile in the Southern League Premier Division until midweek when they suffered their first defeat of the season, going down 2-1 to Arlesey.

Hemel have a former Forest player in their ranks, in the form of Matt Judge. Judge scored six goals in six starts for Forest across two spells. He has made five substitute appearances and two starts so far for Hemel, but has yet to find the back of the net.

You can follow the game on the club’s website, or live on Twitter and Facebook.