WEEKLY BULLETIN – 16TH JULY

FIXTURES

• Saturday 17th July Away to Harpenden Town kick-off 3.00pm.
• We will also send a development squad to Pitstone and Ivinghoe on Thursday 22nd July kick-off 7.30pm.

The league fixtures were released today and are available to view here.

VIEW FROM THE TOUCHLINE WITH MICHAEL JONES
I spoke to Michael Jones to get the view from our management team about our recent fixtures.

STEVENAGE
We knew that Stevenage would be likely to dominate possession so this was always going to be a good test of our defensive capabilities. We thought the team did some really good work in our defending and to only lose 1-0 was a good result. We knew it would be hard to impose ourselves on Stevenage up front because we had less of the ball. Charlie Horlock was outstanding in goal with some excellent saves and he used his experience.

WATFORD
We thought that the Watford team would be stronger than it proved to be. We defended well for the first 20 minutes and then took control of the game. Two quick goals put us in charge including a cheeky penalty that was very brave because if Alex Marsh had missed he would have come in for plenty of stick. As we were in control we could play our passing game and did really well until the last 10 minutes when the multiple substitutions interrupted our flow

ARLESEY TOWN
We sent a mixture of academy players and triallists plus Alex Marsh and Henry Snee to Arlesey on Thursday. It was Snee who sored both goals in a 2-1 victory and it enabled to assess the potential of the players. A similar team will go to Pitstone next Thursday.

SATURDAY AND NEXT WEEK
We travel to Harpenden on Saturday and they will present a difficult challenge as I know their coaching staff and a number of players and they were doing well before last season was curtailed.

We will train on Tuesday and Thursday and we will be looking at will be at the tactical side of things and will analyse performances so far. A similar team as the one that played at Arlesey will go to Pitstone next Thursday.

GROUND
Work will commence next week on installing the new terracing at the Fishponds Road end of the ground.

ACADEMY UPDATE BY MICHAEL JONES
On Wednesday 14th we took a squad of players up to England’s training ground at St Georges Park to play in a VAR tournament. It was an early start for the players and coaches, having to leave Baldock Arena at 5am to ensure we were ready for the first game at 9am.

The tournament was excellent for all involved to see the facilities that England have been using the last few weeks and also be involved in with the VAR technology.

We put in some excellent performance throughout the day and were unlucky not to win the tournament just finishing runners up in the end.

We have also had youth players involved in games for the first team squads, Stan Georgiou played against Stevenage and Watford as well as getting 90 minutes in the Hitchin squad that went and played Arlesey Town on Thursday evening. Marlow Gough also played 90 minutes in this fixture.

HTFC RADIO UPDATE BY FREDDIE CARDY
Unfortunately we are no longer able to provide a live commentary on HTFC Radio of Harpenden Town v Hitchin this Saturday as I’m currently self-isolating. However, Marac and I will still be broadcasting on HTFC Radio from about 2:55pm on the day with a general discussion about the Canaries as well as a load of other football news, whilst bringing you live updates from the game. We hope you tune in if you can’t get to Rothamsted Park. I am pleased to say that we will be joined by Hitchin defender Jack Green.

PREDICTION LEAGUE GAME BY STEVE MAXTED
The prediction league game returns for the 12th consecutive year. It is still only £10 to enter.

All you need to do is predict Hitchin`s league results for the season and their final league position then return the entry form by the first home match. There are prizes but it is really a bit of fun which raises money for the club.

We have rolled over the prize money from last year and so your entry fee will be divided equally between funds for further Ground Improvements, and the day to day running of the football club.

Watch the Forum for more details concerning the rules and entry form. So have a go and support the club. It is easy to enter and you don`t need to be a footballing genius.

CANARY CLUB
The Canary Club will re-open from 11.00am this Sunday 18th July after being shut for a few days due to staff having to self-isolate. Normal opening times will apply from thereon.

BY ROY IZZARD