Vanarama Make Their Team Of The Weekend Picks!

King’s Lynn Town were the big winners in National League North, going level on points with leaders Curzon Ashton after beating Warrington Town 2-1 on the road.

In the South, Enfield Town moved within six points of safety and leapfrogged St. Albans City with a 2-1 home success against Chelmsford City.

Promotion hopefuls Dorking Wanderers, Eastbourne Borough and Truro City all won, keeping the pressure on the top three.

Each week, title sponsors Vanarama provide their Team of the Week for the three divisions and use this column to justify their selections...

Vanarama National League North & South

Enfield Town gave their survival hopes a much-needed boost with just their second National League South win since October. Goalkeeper Rhys Forster faced chances worth 1.58 expected goals (xG) as the Towners hosted Chelmsford City. He also completed 24/29 passes.

After struggling to avoid the drop last term, King’s Lynn Town have been one of the surprise packages in National League North this term and are embedded in the battle for automatic promotion.

Kian Ronan was imperious at the back for the Linnets, successfully completing 12/12 defensive actions and winning 100% of his defensive duels. He also recorded five interceptions and 11 ball recoveries.

Joe Hull was on target as Rushall Olympic beat Farsley Celtic to close the gap to safety. No centre-back had more penalty area touches (3) than Hull, who was successful in 9/11 defensive duels and won more aerial duels (12) than anyone else in his position.

Truro City took full advantage of postponements in the South to go level with third-placed Maidstone United on 45 points. Tom Harrison was successful in 10/12 defensive actions and 6/8 defensive duels as the Tinners beat Hornchurch 2-1 at the death.

Courtney Clarke was Eastbourne Borough’s hero as they beat struggling St. Albans City 1-0. He recorded more progressive runs (4) than any central midfielder in the South while succeeding in more defensive actions (12) than anyone in his position – other than Hornchurch’s Charlee Adams (13).

Kian Ryley is enjoying his time on loan at Rushall Olympic and gave the Pics’ survival hopes a much-needed shot in the arm with a brace in their 3-1 win at Farsley Celtic, taking his tally to three in four games.

The 19-year-old attempted seven shots – more than any other wide midfielder on the day – and led the way for dribbles, progressive runs and penalty area touches.

Tonbridge Angels moved to within five points of the playoff places by beating Weston-super-Mare – themselves in eighth place – 2-0 on Saturday. Garrett Kelly completed 27/32 passes for the Angels, including five of six into the final third.

Enfield Town left it late to overcome Chelmsford with Sam Youngs scoring twice after the 83rd minute. He put the hosts ahead before winning it in the sixth minute of stoppage time.

No central midfielder could top Youngs’ five shots or penalty area touches. He was also successful in 3/5 dribbles and recorded a league-leading xG of 0.89 for a central midfielder.

Jason Prior got Dorking Wanderers back to winning ways with the only goal against Bath City. He attempted more shots (6) than any striker in National League South and received more passes (22) than anyone else in his position.

Only Gold Omotayo (8) had more penalty area touches than Prior. The Swiss scored as King’s Lynn Town underlined their promotion credentials against Warrington Town. His three headed efforts were more than any other striker on the day and his eight penalty area touches also led the way for strikers.

Andrew Neal was Truro City’s hero, scoring the winner against Hornchurch in the eighth minute of stoppage time! A second-half substitute, Neal scored with his only attempt of the game. The strike had an xG value of just 0.09 - in other words, a nine per cent chance of going in!