WEEKLY BULLETIN – 10TH MARCH
FIXTURES
- Saturday 11th March no game
- Monday 13th March Home to Luton Under 21’s Friendly kick-off 7.00pm. Tickets must be purchased online—Prices will be £6 for adults, £4 for concessions, £2 for teenagers and £1 for children. Season Ticket holders can gain free admission. If you please log in to your account on Kaizen before ‘purchasing’ your ticket and you can then access the Season Ticket option to obtain a free ticket for this game. This game is all ticket- Luton U21 games have up till now been side gate, with cash/card option – this one isn’t, because it involves our first team. Luton agreed to the game being all ticket.
MANAGER’S NOTES WITH MARK BURKE
TAMWORTH
We suffered a blow before the game as Jack Morrell was ruled out through concussion he suffered at the Cheshunt game. This meant we were without Jack and the suspended Toby Syme for the visit of top of the table Tamwoth and the league’s leading scorer Dan Creaney. Stan Georgiou came back in the team to replace Toby in central defence while Kye Tearle slotted in on the left side of our back three. I was really pleased with their performances and I thought they acquitted themselves very well. Indeed I thought the whole team defended very well.
We were holding our own approaching half time when I thought the referee made a very bad mistake awarding Tamworth a penalty rather than giving us a free kick because the Tamworth player was guilty of simulation. He was already on a yellow card so the referee would have had to send him off for a second yellow card. Justice was done when the penalty was missed but Tamworth still had 11 players on the pitch.
I was not happy when in my opinion (and those around me) a handball was not given in the build up to the corner we conceded that led to the goal. At the time I was incensed by both decisions and I went in to speak to the referee at half time telling him how I thought he had made two mistakes and that I would send him the clips from the match video.
The second half saw us penned in by Tamworth and we did not really create anything to threaten them. However I was pleased with the way we defended especially with the high number of set pieces we faced. You could see why Tamworth are riding high at the top of the league because they do what they are good at very well.
I would like to give credit to the match referee Joshua Crofts as he did watch the clips I sent him and he called me to apologise for incorrectly awarding the penalty. However we agreed to disagree about the handball before the goal.
BERKHAMSTED v WATFORD UNDER 21’S
On Tuesday I went to watch the other Herts Senior Cup semi final between Berkhamsted and Watford Under 21’s. It was good to see two ex-Canaries playing against one another as Ben Walster faced Toby Adeyemo. The first 20 minutes were even but Berko then took control with 2 goals in a minute and they scored a third before half time. I feared for the young Hornets but they improved in the second half and were awarded a penalty. Former Hitchin youth product Cameron Groom was in goal for Berko but he did not have to save the penalty as it went over the bar. Watford had another good chance but Groom made a good save. Berko though were quite comfortable and deserved their victory. I would like to congratulate manager Chris Devane and his coach Trishan Patel. Trishan is another of our former college products.
LUTON TOWN UNDER 21’S
I would like to thank Luton for agreeing to send their under 21 side to Top Field for Monday’s friendly. This further strengthens the close relationship between the two clubs. It will be interesting to see Josh Allen and Dan Idiakhoa play against their team mates. It also gives me the opportunity to see Luton’s young players who may be possible loan targets in the future.
Before the game I am looking forward to seeing my first Hitchin Town manager and Luton legend Alan West. He will be in the clubhouse from 6.15pm along with fellow Luton legends Mick Harford and Wayne Turner. They will be with the author Phil Duffy to sign copies of Phil’s book They Played for David Pleat at Luton Town. The legends will stay to watch the game.
MARK BURKE
PLAYER NEWS
- Rio Da Silva has unfortunately decided to leave the club. Manager Mark Burke said he was saddened by Rio’s decision. He had always been an honest, hard working and skilful player for us and was very popular in the dressing room. Mark wished Rio all the best for the future and he would always be welcomed back.
- Toby Syme played for Baldock last Saturday and returns to the squad for the Luton game.
- Jack Morrell has recovered from concussion and will return to the squad for the Luton game.
HERTS SENIOR CUP FINAL
We will be playing Berkhamsted in the Herts Senior Cup final. They beat Watford Under 21’s 3-0 in their semi-final on Tuesday. The date for the final has been confirmed as Wednesday 29th March kick-off 7.45pm but venue and prices have not yet been announced by the Hers FA.
Berkhamsted are certainly in great form. They have won 15 and drawn 1 of their last 16 games and are 18 points clear at the top of the Southern League Division 1 Central. They have also won all 14 home league games so we will be in for a difficult challenge in the final.
MERCHANDISE UPDATE BY PAUL SPRAGUE
Home shirts are now reduced in the Club Shop and Online. We only have limited sizes remaining.
- Adult was £40 now £25
- Junior was £32 now £20
After they sold out very quickly last year we have now finally been able to restock our purple bobble hats. You can get them online now or from the Club Shop from Monday night for £10.
https://hitchintownfc.ktckts.com/brand/merchandise
ACADEMY UPDATE BY MICHAEL JONES
On Monday 6th March we travelled to Peterborough for an away league fixture.
The players were going into this game with high hopes of another strong performance following on from a really impressive last 5 games.
The game started off really sloppily with both teams struggling to put consecutive passes together. However the young Canaries did create a few half chances but as an overall first half performance it lacked any real quality with the ball and without it. The first half ended 0-0.
For the second half everyone was hoping for a reaction as the high standards that had been set were not being met. The young Canaries did take the lead through Jack Young but were immediately pegged back from the hosts’ first real chance of the game. Substitutions were made and despite an initial impact the team never really got going. Late on in the match a mistake at the back gave the hosts the lead and again in added time they added a third to comfortably run out 3-1 winners.
Head coach Stephen Gleeson said– “A really disappointing day, nothing to do with the result as we have never been judged on results alone but the performance was nowhere near the expected level we have at the Academy. We now hope the lads can fully understand that if they do not apply themselves with the correct attitude and application to every game then we can fully expect performances like this. We now have to regroup as we now face top of the league next week who have only lost one game all season. This will be a really tough test for the group. However we are the only team to beat them after a strong performance earlier this year so we know if we apply ourselves in the correct manner then we are more than capable of getting both a performance and a result.”
HTWFC UPDATE BY KARLA CHAFFEY
Only one team is in action this weekend but both teams played last Sunday and this is how they got on,
HTWFC Canaries 1 – 0 Stotfold Juniors
Stotfold Juniors 2 – 0 HTWFC Canaries
Fixture on Sunday 12th March 2023, 14:00 kick-off
HTWFC Firsts v Stotfold Women
Ickleford Sports & Recreational Ground, 14:00 kick off
We are looking for new players to join our progressing teams. We train weekly at The Arena, Norton Road, Baldock. We train 19:00 – 20:30 each Tuesday and you have to be 16 years old or over.
We are also looking for new sponsors for the women’s set up. We are looking for sponsorship for training kits and tracksuits. If this is something you are interested in please get in touch with Callum on HTLFC.ClubSecretary@gmail.com.
BY ROY IZZARD