WEEKLY BULLETIN – 12TH JANUARY

FIXTURES

• Saturday 13th January home to Long Eaton League kick-off 3.00pm.. Tickets must be purchased online.
• Monday 15th January away to Redditch League kick-off 7.45pm. Coach leaves at 4.00pm. There is free entry to this game.

MANAGER’S NOTES WITH MARK BURKE

Nuneaton Borough

We could not have got off to a better start when Finley Wilkinson glanced home a header from a well taken Stephen Gleeson free-kick in under a minute.

A pulsating match saw many highs and lows, with us suffering a setback when we lost Layne Eadie to injury after 10 minutes, however we went on to score another goal care of ‘Back Stick Bomber’ Dan Emovon in the 19th minute to put us in control of the match.

On the half hour mark, we lost Finley Wilkinson to injury and Stephen Gleeson was starting to feel his calf which nearly saw us make all 3 substitutions before the break. However, Glees was able to continue into the 2nd half before having to be withdrawn.

Nuneaton applied a lot of pressure on us, as they adopted a ‘Boom or Bust’ approach, attacking in numbers and leaving only a couple of defenders at the back.

It was a high- risk strategy that unfortunately for us, paid off for them as they equalised in the 94th minute to salvage a point.

I was very happy with the way the team defended against the direct football from Nuneaton and it did feel like a defeat when we finished the match having conceded so late on.

However, before the game I would have taken a point and hopefully it can be the start of an unbeaten run.

St Albans City

We crashed out of the Herts Senior Cup on Tuesday night, suffering a heavy defeat to a very good St Albans City team.

St Albans were clinical in their play and took their chances when the opportunities arose. We battled away and had spells where our approach play was very good, but we did not match the ruthlessness St Albans showed us.

It was great to catch up with former Canaries Michael Johnson and Jack James, with MUJ making his comeback against us after a finger injury.

Long Eaton United

This will be the first ever meeting between the two teams at Top Field, following on from our first ever meeting back in August when we came away from Nottinghamshire with a 2-1 victory.

Whilst Long Eaton are currently bottom of the table their recent performances have not been rewarded with the results they probably deserved, and I am sure they will prove to be difficult opponents tomorrow.

We will be looking to build on the point we earned away to Nuneaton last Friday night and get closer to the target we set for safety. The sooner we can reach this, the better and we can really concentrate on the top end of the table.

Player News

Once again Sam and Chloe have been busy with Layne Eadie, Stephen Gleeson and Finley Wilkinson all going off injured against Nuneaton last Friday, Jack Snellus coming off against St Albans and Dan Idiakhoa still recovering from his foot injury sustained against Berkhamsted.

All will face a fitness test before the match tomorrow with the exception, of Finley Wilkinson who has a sprained hamstring that has ruled him out for another week.

News on our long-term injuries sees, both Ciaren Jones and Lewis Barker starting their strengthening programmes whilst, Diogo received his results from his scan on his knee and unfortunately, he is going to be out of action for the foreseeable future.

I would like to thank Ryan Sellers for the time he has spent with us but unfortunately, due to work commitments he has decided to take a rest from football and concentrate on his business. We wish him well and he may return sometime in the future.

Watford Ladies FC – FAW Cup v Arsenal

Finally, I would like to wish our former coach Damon Lathrope the best of luck when he leads his Watford Ladies team into the lion’s den on Sunday when they face Arsenal in the FA Women’s Cup.

Good Luck Damo

MARK BURKE

MERCHANDISE UPDATE BY PAUL SPRAGUE
Club Shop Sale

Call in to the Club Shop when visiting Top Field for tomorrow’s game against Long Eaton.

From Saturday all remaining Hummel items are reduced in price by at least 30%. We have very limited stock/sizes remaining.

We still have lots of other Hitchin Town FC merchandise including Scarves, Hats, Mugs and Balls as well as your matchday programme, teamsheet, sweets and chocolate bars.

THANKS TO VOLUNTEERS BY KATE DELLER
Many thanks to the volunteers who turned out last Saturday to help clear the pitch of branches after Storm Henk left his trail.

We also had a great day clearing the gutters after a season or two of accumulated waste. Hopefully this will ensure the gutters will now run freely.

Well done and many thanks for your dedication. Its massively appreciated.

KATE

ACADEMY UPDATE BY MICHAEL JONES
Friday 22nd December Chris Khoo was selected to play for Pro:Direct 11 against Watford Academy at their training ground. Chris played 75 minutes in centre midfield in the 3-2 loss. All reports from the day were that Chris was a credit to Hitchin Town FC.

Tuesday 9th January Chris Khoo and Joel Jolly came on for the first team in their game away to St Albans City. It’s great to see Academy players representing the club for the first team.

Wednesday 10th January we hosted Holbeach FC at home in our development league. This game was end to end from the start with both teams creating plenty of chances and both goalkeepers making numerous saves, however Hitchin were more clinical on the day, running away with the game winning by 5 goals to 0. Goals from Lewis Holt x2, Chris Khoo, Govind Bains and Asher Banton.

Boys & Girls Open Training Session

We have our next open training session on Monday 19th February 2024 at The Arena, Norton Road, Baldock, Hertfordshire, SG7 5AU on the all weather pitch between 11:30am – 2pm. If you want to register your details or for further information please use this link – https://www.northhertsarena.co.uk/next-trial-dates

HTWFC UPDATE BY KARLA CHAFFEY
The weather played havoc with our teams this weekend. Due to the weather forecast it saw the first team move over to Clothall Road, Baldock and the Canaries fixture postponed. The Firsts were competing against EB Lions in the Chris Renshaw Cup. EB Lions opened the scoring in twenty minutes and the Firsts had a number of chances to bring the game level. It was Coffey and Moore who linked up to see Moore’s shot fire into the far right top corner from the left hand edge of the 18 yard box. The game went straight into penalties and Royall, Edwards, Clarke, Moore & Macy’s goals secured us a passage into the next round.

Next round of fixtures on Sunday 14th January 2024 at 14:00.

BHWFL Division Two :
HTWFC Firsts v EB Lions
St Christophers School, Barrington Road, Letchworth Garden City

We are recruiting a goalkeeper for our Canaries team and we are still on the lookout for new players for our First Team. Please get in touch with Callum via our website. Keep up to date with all our news, fixtures, results and so much more on www.hitchintownwomenfc.co.uk

ASHLEY HAY UPDATE
Ex Canary Ashley Hay received good news recently when he had his contract at Brentford extended to the end of the season. Originally his contract went to the end of January. Last Saturday Ashley was involved in Brentford B’s game with Southampton. He had the distinction of coming on in place of £80 million rated Ivan Toney and scored a goal that was created by Romeo Beckham (son of David).

Ashley still comes to Top Field when he can and we are delighted he is progressing his career so well.

Below I have copied the match report from the Brentford website

Ivan Toney scored a hat-trick and contributed an assist, as he continued the build-up to his return with 75 minutes in Brentford B’s 5-1 win over Southampton Under-23s at Wheatsheaf Park.

The striker, who is eligible for the Bees’ next Premier League fixture against Nottingham Forest in a fortnight, took just four minutes to make his mark on the game, sweeping home Kyreece Lisbie’s cross at the front post.

Southampton were level in slightly fortunate circumstances seven minutes later when Benjamin Arthur’s clearance cannoned off a Saints player and dropped perfectly for him to finish from close range.

However, Toney restored the Bees’ lead with a deft header from Ethan Brierley’s free-kick, before rising highest to plant home from another teasing Brierley delivery 10 minutes into the second half.

Last season’s top scorer then turned provider, squaring for Iwan Morgan to make it four just past the hour, as Ashley Hay completed the scoring inside the final 15 minutes.

Brentford B were straight into their stride on a crisp morning at Wheatsheaf Park and got an early reward.

The goal owed much to the work of the hugely impressive Brierley in midfield – his interception and pass set Lisbie free down the right to cut back for the onrushing Toney to slot home from 10 yards.

Ethan Laidlaw couldn’t get the better of the Saints stopper with a similar chance shortly after with the visitors then going on to level. Arthur did little wrong in attempting to clear a deep cross, but the ball struck Southampton’s no.7 at close range, dropping right back at his feet to tap home.

The Bees were getting real joy down the right with Brierley, Lisbie and Toney combining to great effect.

Last season’s top scorer had a volley blocked before he teed up Lisbie, when the winger’s low shot smuggled out from inside the six-yard box following Toney’s defence-splitting pass.

Laidlaw again tested the visiting keeper’s handling from a tight angle. Brierley crashed a long-range effort just wide after winning the ball back high up the pitch, and Toney had an effort beaten to safety as Neil MacFarlane’s side looked to regain the advantage.

The away side weren’t without their chances in an open first half, where both sides attacked with real pace and purpose.

Bees keeper Vincent Angelini made a superb sprawling save at close range to deny Southampton’s goalscorer a second. He was then a spectator as a long-range free-kick fizzed just over his crossbar.

A deft Toney touch set Lisbie free down the right again only to be denied by the body of the Saints’ keeper.

Just as it looked like the two sides would go in level, Toney made another telling contribution. Brierley delivered a free-kick from the right and the striker held off his man to deflect the cross across goal and just inside the far corner.

While Toney’s second showed a delicate touch, his third, 10 minutes after the restart, was pure power. It was the same route to goal with Brierley delivering a set piece to the near post, this time Toney planted his header back the way it came and into the bottom corner for his hat-trick.

The second half had far fewer efforts on goal than the first, but the Bees were ruthless with the ones they created and gave up almost nothing at the other end.

With three goals to his name, Toney then laid it on a plate with a low centre for Iwan Morgan to net with his first touch just past the hour.

That goal was the signal for both sides to make changes which broke up the flow of the game; Toney, alongside Brierley, withdrew with a quarter of an hour remaining.

His replacement, Hay, made an instant impact, rolling home a fifth into an empty net and was the width of the post away from adding a sixth when he connected with Romeo Beckham’s fine cross from the right late on.

Brentford B: Angelini (Rose 75), Farr (Beckham 62), Fredrick, Arthur (Dickov 75), McManus, Adedokun, Brierley (Holland 75), Owen (Wariuh 46), Lisbie (Morgan 60), Laidlaw (Yogane 75), Toney (Hay 75)

FOOD COLLECTION
Just a reminder to anyone who is able to help that there is a box in the entrance to The Canary Club, where we are collecting for the food banks in collaboration with St Marks Church.

Any tinned or packet food or toiletries you could spare, please do just pop them in the box, everything helps. As we are at home tomorrow there is a good opportunity to donate.

BY ROY IZZARD