WEEKLY BULLETIN – 19TH JANUARY

FIXTURE

• Saturday 20th January Away to Alvechurch League kick-off 3.00pm. Coach leaves at 10.30am.
• There is no midweek fixture.

MANAGER’S NOTES WITH MARK BURKE

LONG EATON UNITED

The performance against Long Eaton last Saturday was very reminiscent of the one against Berkhamsted recently. I felt we dominated the first half and were in control of the match going into the break although once again we had failed to score despite our superiority.

We continued to play well into the second half but were very vulnerable to counter attacks and Long Eaton capitalised on this by breaking away quickly from one of our attacks to score and go in front.

We responded well and got ourselves on level terms with a well worked and taken goal shortly after we had conceded.

We were back in the ascendancy and should have taken the lead when Kavan Cotter got onto the end of a fine cut back by Stephen Gleeson, poking the ball goalwards and heading into the net, however poor Tommy Blennerhassett making his full debut could not resist helping the ball over the line from an offside position, which saw the goal being disallowed.

This would have put us in front, and I am sure we would have gone on to win the match but as has happened so many times in the past in football, the opposition went up the other end to score and take the lead.

In the space of a few minutes, we had seen ourselves going from a winning position to a losing one.

I am not going to apportion any blame on Tommy as he is a young forward and just reacted with a strikers’ instinct, an instinct I hope will bring us more goals in the future.

We dragged ourselves back into the match late on with an equaliser from Arnie but succumbed to another sucker punch from another break away which saw Long Eaton leave Top Field with a victory and 3 points.

REDDITCH UNITED

We travelled to high flying Redditch on Monday night, licking our wounds from our defeat at home to Long Eaton on Saturday.

Toby Syme was not fit enough for selection, and we had to adjust our line up once again due to injury. The match started evenly before Redditch took the lead from a corner after 10 minutes. We then grew into the match and had numerous shots with the best one coming from Jack Snellus who rattled the woodwork with a fierce strike.

We came out 2nd half and took the game to Redditch and enjoyed a lot of possession, but we could not convert our dominance into chances. Redditch defended very well and were solid throughout the second half before scoring a further 2 goals in the last 10 minutes.

It is a time not to panic but we will be working very hard to rectify the problems we have been experiencing in both boxes to make sure the season does not fizzle out.

ALVECHURCH

We head back up to the Midlands on Saturday, not a million miles away from Redditch when we play Alvechurch.

Alvechurch have had a difficult season to date, but they did have a fantastic result away to AFC Sudbury last weekend, winning 1 nil from a goal by danger man Dan Sweeney.

It is important we start the match organised, disciplined and hard working and use these qualities as our foundation to see us come through this sticky patch we are going through.

It will be great to catch up with Richie Batchelor who has moved into James Frys’ back room team. Batch is a real character that has crossed our path on many occasions with numerous teams over the years.

I look forward to him getting the beers in.

PLAYER NEWS

We did not risk Toby Syme on Monday night against Redditch United after picking up a knock on the previous Saturday against Long Eaton, but I am hopeful that he will be available for selection when we travel to Alvechurch.

I would like to welcome back Josh Popoola to the club after his spells with Bournemouth and Stockport County. Josh left us at the end of the 2021/22 season to join Bournemouth and made a number of appearances for their U23’s including a match against Luton as pictured.

MEET THE MANAGER
Monday 22nd January 2024.
Hitchin Town Supporters’ Trust have arranged a Meet the Manager evening with Mark Burke.
All Supporters are welcome. Free admission.
The venue is the Canary Club and it starts at 7.30.

NUNEATON
It was announced yesterday that Nuneaton have withdrawn from the Southern League with immediate effect. Their playing record will be expunged.

STUART MAYNARD
Congratulations to ex Canary Stuart Maynard who has been appointed head coach at Notts County. Stuart played 61 games for us between 2003 and 2005. He was formerly manager at Wealdstone and this is a great opportunity for him. Mark Burke sends his congratulations to Stuart as a former colleague.

ATTENDANCE LEAGUE TABLE
Our average attendance is now 547 thanks to the tremendous support we have received at our recent games. Despite indifferent results numbers have still increased and we are so grateful

We received the following post on Facebook after Saturday’s game which is worth sharing as it shows our efforts to improve and enhance the match day experience are being appreciated.

ACADEMY UPDATE
On Thursday and Friday this week the following players Chris Khoo, Joel Jolly and Frankie Webster were invited up to St Georges Park (England’s Training Ground) for a two day tournament to represent Pro:Direct.

We will update you next week with how all three of them got on with this excellent experience.

Next week we are due to host an Ipswich development squad.

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 Firsts were back at St Christophers School on Sunday against EB Lions in their first league game since October 2023. Because of the League Cup, Chris Renshaw Cup & Herts Women’s Challenge Trophy the league fixtures have been pushed back.

EB Lions were back in town to compete for three points. It was the first time that the First team had played them in the league. However EB Lions were looking for revenge after the Firsts knocking them out of the Chris Renshaw Cup. The Firsts were quick and dominated throughout the first half seeing Royall & Shackell scoring goals and giving the Firsts a three nil advantage at half time.

The Firsts however were punished when EB Lions pounced on mistakes and they brought it back level. Then in the 88th minute a ball from Royall to the incoming Macey saw her shot fire into the far corner securing the three points. This win really stapled a new dawn in the First team.

Next round of fixtures on Sunday 21st January 2024 at 14:00.

BHWFL Division Two :
HTWFC Firsts v Buntingford Town Women FC
St Christophers School, Barrington Road, Letchworth Garden City

We are recruiting 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 HTTPS://www.hitchintownwomenfc.co.uk

BY ROY IZZARD