ONE FIXTURE

Saturday 29 February home to Peterborough Sports League kick-off 3.00pm. There will be a pitch inspection at 10.00am.

It would appear we galvanised Peterborough Sports when we beat them 4-0 in January. The following games produced a sensational run of results: Tamworth 4-2, Stourbridge 6-1, Alvechurch 3-0, Nuneaton 3-0 and St Ives 5-0.

That was 21 goals scored and just 3 conceded. On Tuesday they drew 3-3 at Hednesford.

REARRANGED FIXTURE
The recently postponed Leiston game has been rearranged for Monday 16 March kick-off 7.45pm.

PLAYER NEWS
Lewis Rolfe has moved to Chesham. We did not think it fair to stand in his way as Chesham are pushing for promotion while we do not have any chance of reaching the play-offs. We are confident that Lewis will consider coming back to Top Field next season.

There are no injuries or suspensions at the moment so everyone should be available for Peterborough Sports.

HTFC SUPPORTING FOOTBALL V HOMOPHOBIA
At our game against Peterborough Sports tomorrow, Hitchin Town FC is showing its support for the Football v Homophobia campaign. Football v Homophobia (FvH) takes place year round and the campaign has its “Month of Action” in February. It is an international campaign to tackle homophobia and prejudice against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT+) people in football. The aim of FvH is to make football safe and welcoming for everyone.

More information on the initiative itself and the events taking place can be read here.

NORTH HERTS RADIO
North Herts Radio will be at Top Field on Saturday 29 February 2020, to bring you live commentary of Hitchin Town’s league match against Peterborough Sports. Freddie Cardy and Marac Alionic will be your hosts with the programme starting at 2:45pm.

They are on the ‘North Herts Radio Extra’ channel on the North Herts Radio website.

WEBBY’S VIEW
I recently asked club captain Dan Webb to write an article reviewing the season so far. I have now received and edited it and it is a really good read that all Hitchin supporters will enjoy. It will be released on all our social media outlets on Sunday.

QUIZ AND CURRY NIGHT
The quiz and curry night was very successful with 70 people attending. It was good to see so many players and members of the management team participate. Many thanks to Mick Docking for hosting the event in his own inimitable style and to Kate Deller for providing the food.

FOOTBALL TRADITIONS STUDY
We have been approached by Jenny O’Sullivan at the University of Hertfordshire to see if any of our fans would be willing to assist in a study of Football Traditions and Folklore. You can help in one of two ways (or if you’re particularly keen you can offer to do both).

1. Undertake a brief questionnaire online.

2. Undertake a brief interview, either instead of or as well as the questionnaire. Jenny is coming to the Royston match on March 30th so she would be willing to undertake any interviews on this date.

HITCHIN TOWN UNDER 19’S
The academy team had their game at Boreham Wood called off because of a waterlogged pitch on Wednesday. Next Wenesday they are away to Bromley kick-off 1.00pm.

HITCHIN TOWN LADIES FC WITH CALLUM ELLIS
Hitchin Town Ladies Reserves FC returned to Ickleford on Sunday 23 February against league leaders Herts Vipers. The match got underway and the Reserves started strongly with early pressure on the Vipers who couldn’t get out of their own half. A quick counter from the Vipers down the right wing and a ball sent into the box just bounced off the inside of the far post into the Hitchin net. Hitchin responded well and Spang & Beary linked up well together but the defence of the Vipers was strong and quickly dealt with any threat from Hitchin. Vipers doubled their lead before half time after a mistake in the Hitchin defence let the Vipers striker through to slot into the Hitchin goal. The half time whistle went and tensions were high within the Vipers camp as they weren’t getting what they wanted and Hitchin were breaking them down bit by bit.

The game got underway for the second half and Vipers quickly got their third, a free kick on the edge of the box which found the head of a Vipers player. Hitchin were slowing down and couldn’t keep up with the pace of the quick feet of the Vipers players and we conceded three penalties. Vipers had scored six goals by the 75th minute and Hitchin just had nothing left in the tank to give. Vipers added four more goals before the final whistle. The score line did not reflect the game at all and the ladies worked hard to keep the score line down to what could have been double if not more. I couldn’t be anymore proud of how they performed.

Fixtures for 1 March 2020

Hartham FC v Hitchin Town Ladies FC Firsts
Hartham Lane, Hartham Common, Hertford, SG14 1QR

Hitchin Town Ladies FC Reserves v Kempston Rovers Girls & Ladies First
Ickleford Recreation Ground, Chambers Lane, Ickleford.

EJA NEWS WITH NICK CARR
It was a great weekend for our EJA teams with all four teams winning.

The U14s recorded a 1-0 win away at second placed St. Ives Town to secure the double over them and replace them in second spot. Daniel Gillard with the goal. They take on league leaders Soham Town Rangers on Sunday in an away fixture that kicks off at 2:30 pm, hoping to continue their habit of beating the top teams.

The U15s beat a very dangerous opponent in Tring Athletic on Sunday with a 4-2 scoreline. This was despite going behind to a dubious penalty. Goal scorers were man of the match Richard  Kusorgbor with two, Lavel Davis-Thomas and Temidire Fashini. The result keeps the boys top of the table. This Sunday they are at home to another dangerous opponent in the shape of last year’s champions Cockfosters. The game is at The Baldock Arena, 10:30am kickoff.

Our U17s had a resounding 5-0 win away at Stotfold to tighten their grip at the top of the league. The goals were scored by Ajay Lidder, Jack Hewitt, Ollie Trott, Ashley Hays and Finley Aldridge. On Sunday they are away to Barkingside Youth in a 2:30pm kickoff.

Our U18s triumphed over Harlow Town by 3-1 with goals from Ryan Perkins, Shaun Dowler and Jack Holmes. This Sunday sees them in County Cup action when they travel to Cheshunt Youth for a quarter- final tie that kicks off at 2pm.

MORE FROM THE FIRST MINUTE BOOK
A committee meeting took place on 9 May 1928. It was reported that provisional application had been made to the Beds and District League for two teams and application was also made to the Spartan League. It was also reported that an option had been obtained on the Grammar School ground in Bearton Road and it was agreed a sub-committee be formed to carry out negotiations with the H.G.S.O.B with a view to renting the field during the coming season subject to the club attaining exclusive use of the field during the football season.

It was further agreed that the previous minute that the club colours be all white be rescinded and it was agreed that the club colours be ”yellow jerseys and blue knickers”. More next week.

MANAGER’S NOTES WITH MARK BURKE

BROMSGROVE

We travelled to Bromsgrove who were sitting in second place in the table with a particular game plan and I was delighted that we carried it out to the letter. As I said in last week’s bulletin we wanted to silence the crowd and this is exactly what we did. Not only were the crowd silenced but I believe some of their negative comments may have impacted on some of the Bromsgrove players.

I thought every player to a man worked tremendously hard to ensure we did not concede in the first half and this continued in to the second half we were able to deservedly take a two goal lead. We were then able to inject some pace towards the end of the game by introducing Jacob Hutchinson and Diogo Freitas-Gouveia from the bench which was always part of our plan and it certainly posed questions for Bromsgrove. We became very dangerous on the counter attack and despite conceding with 15 minutes to go we continued to work hard and were rewarded with a well deserved victory.

PETERBOROUGH SPORTS

Manager Jimmy Dean has done a fantastic job at Peterborough Sports and it feels strange that just five years on from our F A Cup games with them we have become the underdogs in this fixture. We produced probably our best performance of the season at Peterborough last month and I am sure they will still be smarting from that and no doubt they will be seeking revenge.

We need to take the confidence we gained from the Bromsgrove game and be at our best to ensure we compete with the free scoring Peterborough Sports on Saturday.

BY ROY IZZARD