CROWDFUNDER UPDATE
Our Canary Crisis Fund Crowdfunder will end at 6pm on Sunday. We are very confident we will achieve our £50,000 target but please keep donating and take advantage of the rewards on offer. Your support has been utterly magnificent and I am so proud of what you have achieved for the club. Ironically I received notice this week that our next ground grading is scheduled at the end of the season so securing money to carry out the necessary repairs and maintenance to ensure we achieve the necessary grading could not have been more timely.

I must pay tribute to Teddy Donnelly who completed his sponsored walk for the Crowdfunder last Sunday. He actually ran most of the laps of Top Field and has raised over £2,000 which is quite astonishing bearing in mind his target was £500. It was good to see so many of the Donnelly clan at Top Field to support Teddy.

COW COMMONERS
As you will see in a separate press release the Cow Commoners trustees have granted us a third successive rent free quarter to help alleviate the financial problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemiic. The club could not be more grateful for this tremendous gesture and it again shows how our landlords are now working very closely with us.

MANAGER’S NOTES WITH MARK BURKE

STOURBRIDGE

We got off to the worst possible start in our top of the table clash with Stourbridge as Charlie Horlock was sent off after just 4 minutes. I have no complaints about the decision although there was no malice in Charlie’s challenge. Alex Marsh volunteered to go in goal as he spends his summers as a wicketkeeper for his local cricket club. I have to say he performed tremendously well and made some excellent saves.

We adopted a 3-4-2 formation which caused Stourbridge problems. Unfortunately we conceded before half time but I must give full credit to the team for their second half performance. We worked really hard and created some good chances. I thought we did enough to deserve a draw and the Stourbridge management agreed with me. However you do not always get what you deserve in football and although I felt it was like a moral victory we did not return to Hitchin with any reward.

AFC RUSHDEN & DIAMONDS

Obviously Tuesday night was a disastrous score line and we were unable to cope with the physical strength of the Rusden team. I was actually pleased with our start to the game but the 12 minute spell where we conceded 4 goals meant it was always going to be difficult to get back in the game. However I felt that for the remainder of the half we created a number of chances. We scored one and had we been more clinical I do believe we could have salvaged something from the game.

We did have another good chance at the start of the second half but it was not taken and all credit to Rushden who set out to defend their lead and hit us on the counter. This they did very effectively and added 3 more goals.

This result does not turn us in to a bad side overnight and I would prefer to look at the previous 13 games to see where we are at the moment. It is important we have a positive reaction and give a good account of ourselves in the next game.

ST ALBANS

I am looking forward to our visit to St Albans where we will be the underdogs. It will be good to see ex-Canary Michael Johnson in goal for St Albans while my old mate Steve Conroy a previous Hitchin FA Cup hero is on their coaching staff. I expect the playing surface to suit our game and I am sure it will be an entertaining encounter. It is a massive disappointment that the game is behind closed doors but I hope many supporters take advantage of the live streaming. We have nothing to lose and will be determined to bury the memory of Tuesday evening.

Jack Green will face a fitness testt but Dan Webb and Steve Cawley will be in the squad while Lewis Barker has now completed his suspension. Charlie Horlock is suspended for 3 games.

NEEDHAM MARKET

On Monday we again entertain Needham Market. After their performance against us I am not surprised at how well they have done subsequently. I am under no illusions that this will be a very difficult match and we will need to be at our best to get something from the game.

ACADEMY UPDATE BY MICHAEL JONES
Monday 28 September we played our final PDA cup group game at Home to PDA Luton. We only needed a point to secure qualification into the next round.

We came away 2-0 winners in a game where we were comfortable throughout and on another day could have won by more.

We now await the draw for the knockout round.

Wednesday 30 September in the SCL East Division we played at home against a very strong West Ham team.

After an average first half performance we came in at the break 3-1 down. Second half despite a lot of pressure early on we were unable to find a goal to get back into the game, West Ham scored a 4th goal which knocked our confidence and they started to run away with the match. Final Score ended up 7-1 to West Ham.

Squad: Adam Asad, Tyrese Oates, Joe Warne, Cameron Markland, Nathan Bell, Ryan Perkins, Ansu Koroma, Rocca Lewis – Wren, Lewis Batten, Morgan Seaby, Carlos Acosta Clark.

Subs Used – Bailey Smith, Tyler Toms, Scott Wilson, Shorno Hossain, Thomas Gentry.

There will be a press release over the weekend about a sponsored walk the academy team will be doing next Tuesday.

ST ALBANS V HITCHIN AVAILABLE TO LIVE STREAM
St Albans have announced that they are going to live stream Saturday’s FA Cup tie from Clarence Park. As the game is behind closed doors it means our supporters can now watch the game live for just £6.99. Under FA Cup rules the two clubs share the streaming receipts so we will benefit from every supporter who buys a ”ticket”. The following excerpt has been taken from the St Albans website:

We are pleased to announce that we will be live streaming Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round fixture against Hitchin Town. The match will be filmed by MatchPeak who will be working throughout the season with our volunteer media team. The Pay Per View tickets can be purchased now for £6.99.

Our team of volunteers have been working incredibly hard to not only put together the streaming service for you but also in assisting the management of closed behind doors matches.

We hope that as many of you as possible join our live stream on Saturday. It will be complemented by Radio Verulam’s excellent radio commentary, which you will be able to listen to via their website. Your support will be a significant contribution towards helping us through the current crisis – so that we can hopefully welcome you all back to Clarence Park in the near future.

Once purchased you will receive an access code that you can use to watch the match. The service restricts viewing to a single location. Once the game has finished you will still have access to watch the game. So if you can’t watch it live from 3pm, you can catch up and watch the match in full afterwards.

All you need to watch the match is a browser – so you can watch on a laptop, tablet or smartphone. You will be emailed a link to watch the match but you can also watch Saturday’s match using the following link: https://bit.ly/3jzgpcx

If you experience any difficulties or need some assistance, please email us at: info@stalbanscityfc.com.