WEEKLY BULLETIN: 19TH SEPTEMBER
Upcoming Fixtures
Friday 19 September vs Biggleswade FC (A) – FA Trophy
We play Biggleswade FC in the FA Trophy in a rare Friday night fixture (tonight) – kick-off is at 7.45pm and the game will be played at Bedford Town FC’s The New Eyrie stadium, Meadow Ln, Bedford, MK44 3LW.
Admission prices are £11 for adults, £8 for concessions and £1 for accompanied under 16’s.
Tickets can be bought by cash or card and you can buy tickets online on the following link https://app.fanbaseclub.com/Fan/Dashboard?clubId=307
I am sure we will have a large away following!
There is no midweek game.
Manager’s Notes
Last-Gasp Defeat to St Albans City in the FA Cup
Saturday we hosted St Albans City in the FA Cup Second Qualifying round in front of a crowd of almost 1200.
We started the game faster than the visitors and early on Taylor Rhiney should have put us 1-0 up but he put his close range effort wide. We created some other chances with George Morrall just needing to connect with the ball better to score and two or three crosses going across the face of goal, only needing a touch to score. St Albans were defensively organised, hard working and difficult to break down and when we did break them down we were not clinical enough. The visitors were always a threat on the counter without troubling Alfie in goal. They had their best spell for about 10 minutes in the middle of the 1st half, apart from that I felt we were relatively comfortable.
Half time we mentioned about seeing the forward passes and moving the ball quicker, to cause more problems. Then when we did get in the right positions to make sure we had the composure to take our chances.
Second half and St Albans changed shape and were able to bring on the experience of Michael Bostwick. The game continued in a similar fashion with us controlling the ball without causing enough problems for the St Albans defence and the visitors always looking a threat on the counter.
Just when St Albans were looking tired and we were ready to pounce by utilising our bench, disaster struck. Kye Tearle poor pass in midfield hit Josh Coldicott Stevens in midfield and allowed St Albans to counter and despite having enough players work hard to recover, we failed to mark and the visitors took the lead with an easy header from inside the box.
This then regalvanised the visitors and they found the energy needed and were able to control the game with a deep defensive structure. We kept trying to get back into it and again it was looking like it was not going to be our day but Lewis Franklin burst forward and won us a penalty which Taylor Rhiney dispatched.
We were 1-1 and everyone is planning on going to St Albans on Tuesday but our naivety crept in. Taylor ran back with the ball after scoring, instead of milking the celebrations/running down the remaining 30 seconds. Charlie Briggs should have then cleared the ball from kick off but he kept it in play and Stephen Gleeson should have headed the ball. This allowed the visitors one last chance to put the ball in the box from a free kick and they took it to win the game as Mbunya Alemanji lost his man and this summed up the final moments of the game.
Everyone will now say time to focus on the league but we didn’t want to focus on the league, we wanted a cup run and at least one more crack at beating St Albans. This was a really gutting result, especially in front of such a huge, expectant crowd.
We need to now lick our wounds and focus on beating Biggleswade FC.
Trip to Biggleswade FC
We travel to Bedford Town FC to play Biggleswade FC in the FA Throphy. Biggleswade FC currently play in our league and have had a very good start to the season. They are a young and energetic team, who have had players that have been involved with them since they started back in 2016.
We know the quality they possess but we are confident we can continue our good away form and bounce back from our FA Cup disappointment.
I look forward to seeing another strong away following at the game.
Player News
- Lewis Barker is currently taking a break from football due to increased work commitments/personal issues.
- Fernando Bell-Toxtle continues to play for Newport Pagnell as he steps up his recovery from his long term injury.
- Tyrese Kamara remains out injured.
- Will McNeill is on a dual registration with Biggleswade United.
- Cole Butler played for Potton United on Saturday.
- Plamedi Bomolo played for Kempston Rovers on Monday.
- Josh Jackman has been suffering with an illness which kept him out the FA Cup squad and will also keep him out of the FA Trophy squad.
- Kye Tearle is suffering from a shoulder injury picked up in the FA Cup and will not be risked for the FA Trophy match.
- Charlie Briggs is away and will miss the FA Trophy match.
Academy Update
We have been in training now for two weeks as we prepare for the start of our season.
We still have a few spaces remaining for this season so please use the link below to find out more information.
If you would like to be part of the academy or would like to find out more information on what we offer please register your details using this link – https://extranet.wearescl.co.uk/ToolkitNew/webenrolment.aspx?page=~/webcontrols/courseapply.ascx&OfferingId=85258
Michael Jones
Ticketing Update
Buying Online:
As a Club we will continue to emphasise how much it helps the Club for spectators to buy online if they can. All money goes straight in the bank, there is no vulnerability for any of our volunteers who operate the Ticket Window and the turnstiles, there’s no wads of cash to pay in at non-existent banks, and it’s safer because it helps get everyone into the ground a lot quicker and there are very few if any queues at the turnstiles. Not least, it’s cheaper and will continue to be so.
At the St.Albans game last week, 91% of the people who attended the game bought their tickets online. Although it was clear that we were assisted by St.Albans fans who are used to buying their tickets online and a huge majority of them did, it was still very encouraging and helpful to all of the match day volunteers who are entrusted with seeing folks are ensured a quick and safe entry into the ground.
So a massive thanks to all of you who bought your tickets online, it is very much appreciated. Link to match tickets for future games is: https://hitchintownfc.ktckts.com/brand/match-tickets
Arriving after 3:15/8:00
Just a polite reminder that with effect from the next game (currently v AFC Dunstable on Saturday 27th September), if you arrive at games without a ticket after the Match Day Ticket Office is closed at 3:15 (8:00 for night games), you will need to buy a ticket online from your phone. The ticket office will not re-open to sell tickets for latecomers.
So if you intend to come to a game but think you are going to arrive later than 15 minutes after kick off, it is worth buying your ticket online in advance so that you can enter straight away via the turnstiles.
Flexi Tickets
Flexi tickets are now back on sale on our ticket website. You can buy a bundle of five tickets at a reduced price (Adults and Concessions only – £58 Adults, £40 Concessions). These can either be used for five individual matches, or you can up to all five at the same time if you are bringing family and/or friends to a game.
These tickets are valid for all League games but not cup games.
If you require any further information about these tickets, please email tickets@hitchintownfc.club
Chris Newbold
Another Great Attendance
Thank you once again to our loyal supporters who turned up in such great numbers against St Albans. The attendance of1,181 was the seventh highest of all the games in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup. With plenty of St Albans fans present it was a great atmosphere and I am sure everyone enjoyed the match day experience—apart from the 94th minute!
Thank you again for your great support and it really does inspire the players and management to strive to bring success back to the club.
Thank You to Our Volunteers
We received the following email from a St Albans official which was sent to Holly Jones who organises the pre match parking planning .
Hello Holly,
A thank you from the fans who travelled on the minibus today.
Arrangements for parking worked very well and all the volunteers were helpful and friendly.
We thought a draw would have been a fair result.
Good luck for the rest of the season.
Duncan
I always like to highlight the great job our volunteers do and it is gratifying that their work is appreciated by opposition teams as well as our own supporters.
Community Update
Coaching Courses at the Arena
Junior Ability Counts
Our Junior Ability Counts sessions at the Arena, Baldock on Monday’s have 5 more weeks to run from 22 September from 5-6pm. The sessions are open to 5-16 year olds with physical and or SEN but be able to walk.
Safe Hands Goalkeeping Course
We also started Our Safe Hands Goalkeeping sessions at the Arena, Baldock also have 5 weeks to run from Wednesday 24 September from 5.30-6.30pm with former Hitchin Town First Team goalkeeper Josh Mollison. The sessions are open to 6-14 year olds
Girls Football at The Priory School
We have returned to delivering football coaching sessions for girls at The Priory School with Josh Mollison leading the coaching.
If there are any schools requiring support for their PE, PPA, After School and Breakfast Clubs please contact Josh Mollison on info@htcfc.co.uk
HTWFC Update
Sunday 14 September – Results
Cranfield United Ladies FC 4-4 Hitchin Town Women FC
Sunday 21 September – Fixtures
Leighton Woodside Ladies vs HTWFC Canaries
Cedar Upper School, LU7 2AE
For more info on Hitchin Town Women’s FC contact us today on hello@hitchintownwomenfc.co.uk
Callum Ellis