WEEKLY BULLETIN – 10TH SEPT

FIXTURES

• Saturday 11th September – Away to Bromsgrove – League – kick-off 3.00pm. Coach leaves 10.30am.
• Monday 13th September – Home to Barwell – League – kick-off 7.45pm. Tickets available online.

MANAGER’S NOTES WITH MARK BURKE

BIGGLESWADE TOWN
I was very proud of the team on Saturday as we encountered a very tricky match against an in-form Biggleswade team. I felt we bounced back from the two defeats the previous weekend in style and that we fully deserved our victory.

I was pleased with the way we adapted to a new formation as we operated with a diamond in midfield and two strikers.

The timing of our goals was key to the victory especially the second goal so soon after half time. It was certainly good to get back to winning form and I am so pleased for our loyal supporters who turned up in such great numbers at Biggleswade. The players really appreciated your great support and it felt like a home game.

We now look forward to a home tie in the next round and we will be doing our homework on Cheshunt.

BROMSGROVE
Bromsgrove are in a good run of form having won their last three matches. With their big crowds it is always an intimidating atmosphere but I hope our players will respond positively to this and maintain the performance levels from the Biggleswade game.

BARWELL
I have had very good reports about Barwell but they have been unfortunate with results and a number of injuries to key players. They are a good team that will play attractive football and it should be an entertaining game.

PLAYER NEWS

• Lewis Barker played 90 minutes for Cambridge City midweek which will help his return to match fitness. Thanks to manager Robbie Nightingale for his cooperation.
• Unfortunately our other two players dual registered with Cambridge City have had setbacks. Max Ryan is serving a three game suspension while Jonas Kolanda has picked up an injury and could be out for a while.
• Sam Okoye has signed dual registration forms with Sittingbourne to get valuable game time.
• Dan Webb is likely to miss the next couple of weeks with his current injury.

ALL SOULS DAY EVENT
On Saturday 23rd October 2021 at our home fixture with Stratford Town, we will be celebrating All Souls Day and remembering the former players, club officials, volunteers, supporters, family and friends that have passed away over the past two years with a round of applause before kick-off. Please see the full story here.

TICKETING AND MERCHANDISE UPDATE
Tickets for the FA Cup game against Cheshunt will go on sale on Friday morning 10th September at 10am. Please remember, season tickets are not valid for this game – it is all pay.

There are still a few tickets left for the coach going to Bromsgrove. Only £10 return – tickets can be bought online at https://hitchintownfc.ktckts.com/event/hit2122sac03/coach-to-bromsgrove. Coach leaves Top Field at 10:30am.

Online sales are still going tremendously well – with a number of purchases going to USA, Australia and Canada. You can view the range of items on sale at https://hitchintownfc.ktckts.com/brand/merchandise.

ACADEMY UPDATE
On Wednesday 8th September we played at home against Norwich RDP in our first league match in our National U19 youth alliance league.

We are incredibly lucky to be playing our home games at Top Field, this allows all our players to experience the pitch and the facilities just like the first team squad.

We would also like to thank the ground staff for all their time and effort in preparing the pitch for our fixture, it was in excellent condition as always.

It was a very hot day and it meant we would need to be very good at keeping the ball to save our energy and to make the opposition work even harder, this we did really well. We dominated possession and after some really good chances we took the lead on the 45th minute with a goal from Nikolay Rusev who is currently dual registered with Letchworth Garden City FC (Step 6). It was not long before we doubled our lead courtesy of first year Harry Dollimore who had only been on the pitch for a matter of minutes after replacing Aarron Hector in the 44th minute. This meant we went in to half time with a deserved 2-0 lead.

Second half we had to make some changes due to a few tired legs as 5 of our players had played the night before for their men’s senior teams. In the league we are allowed to use 5 subs from 5 and at half time we had made all of the changes. The second half continued in a similar pattern, we kept the ball and created plenty of chances while the opposition did not threaten. Nikolay Rusev missed a penalty early on but we did eventually score two more goals which came from Matthew Morton and Harry Dollimore who had both come off the bench. We played the last 30 minutes with 10 men, due to injuries but the players kept moving the ball and never looked like they were playing with a man less.

Man of the match was Marlow Gough who played 90 minutes Tuesday evening for Letchworth Garden City and again for us on the Wednesday. His defending was very good but his passing was even better.

Team: Cameron Groom (45m Dan Weaver) Ryan Perkins, Callum Kane (45m Joe Warne) Stan Georgiou, Marlow Gough, Lewis Franklin (45m Oscar Trotter) Nikolay Rusev (C), Ollie Trott, Ace Barker (45m Matthew Morton) Flavius Drescanu, Aaron Hector (44m Harry Dollimore)
Goals: Nikolay Rusev 45m, Harry Dollimore 45+2m, 83m, Matthew Morton 56m

HITCHIN TOWN YOUTH UPDATE
On Tuesday 7th September Hitchin Town Youth welcomed their new Under 7s players to the club. Paul Males (Chairman), Paul Henry (Vice Chairman) and Ade Olabode (Team Manager) officially welcomed the players to our club and also handed them out a welcome letter from Mark Burke, a first team squad photo/fixtures poster and a pin badge.

We are very happy that the players have decided to join Hitchin Town Football Club and we wish them all the best in their future development and learning with us.

HTWFC UPDATE BY KARLA CHAFFEY

The 2021/2022 begins this weekend! The long awaited return to football is now here. We have not played competitive football since December 2020 so it’s great to get the women back competing at the sport they do so well in. Richard & Wayne take charge of the XI again this season. Jamie takes charge of his first season as manager within women’s football with the assistance of Callum.

Sunday 12th September 2021 fixtures are as followed:

Beds & Herts Women’s Football League Divison One
14:00 – Hartham United Ladies v HTWFC XI
Hartham Lesiure Centre, Hartham Lane, Hertford, SG14 1QR

Beds & Herts Women’s Football League Division Two
14:00 – HTWFC Canaries v Letchworth Garden City Eagles Ladies
Ickleford Sports & Recreation Ground, Chambers Lane, Ickleford, Hitchin, SG5 3YA

Keep up to date on our Twitter with all the live scores @HitchinTownWFC or on Facebook, Hitchin Town Womens FC

We are still continuing to recruit for players for the 2021/2022 season. We train Wednesday evenings at The Arena, Norton Road, Baldock, Hertfordshire, SG7 5AU. Training starts at 20:30 and finishes at 22:00, all abilities welcome!

BY ROY IZZARD