WEEKLY BULLETIN – 7TH OCTOBER

FIXTURES

• Saturday 8th October Home to Redditch FA Trophy kick-off 3.00pm. Tickets must be bought online and this will include season ticket holders as the gate receipts have to be shared.
• Monday 10th October Home to Leiston League kick-off 7.45pm. Tickets must be bought online.

MANAGER’S NOTES WITH MARK BURKE

WELWYN GARDEN CITY

We had a good training session at the Arena on Saturday which I thought would set us up for the Herts Senior Cup game with Welwyn Garden City. We did begin the game positively and scored a very good goal after 15 minutes. However Welwyn responded very well and I felt they took charge of the game from thereon.

I was happy with the way we defended in the final third of the pitch but I was disappointed with our defensive work higher up the pitch and this allowed Welwyn to create chances. We were possibly deflated by the missed penalty and this may well have lifted Welwyn but I was still very disappointed with our lack of creativity particularly after the positive second half performance against St Ives. We worked on this aspect of our play at our Thursday training session.

The positives from the Welwyn game were another clean sheet, the fact we progressed to the next round and a really good attendance of 231 for a midweek County Cup game.

REDDITCH/LEISTON

We face two very tough games on Saturday and Monday against Redditch and Leiston, two in-form teams who are fourth and eighth in the current form table. Redditch are unbeaten away in the league with four wins and one draw, while Leiston have only lost one of their five away league games. So we will need to be at our best and will need to build on Monday’s positive result. We want to have an unbeaten run.

I will be making use of the whole squad over the two games as is my usual policy for Saturday/Monday games.

YOUTH TEAM

Finally I want to wish our under 18’s the best of luck in their FA Youth Cup game at home to Chesterfield on Thursday.

MARK BURKE

PLAYER NEWS

• Steve Cawley and George Devine trained on Thursday.
• Jack Morrell is now back training by himself but not yet with the rest of the squad.
• Finley Wilkinson and Steve Gleeson will return to the squad on Saturday.
• Rio Dasilva is now back to full fitness and Lewis Barker is clear from suspension.

FA YOUTH CUP
Our under 18’s have the plum draw of Chesterfield at home in the FA Youth Cup third qualifying round. The game is being played on Thursday 13th October at Top Field kick-off 7.45pm.

Admission prices are adults £5, concessions £3, teenagers and under 13’s £1, over 80’s free if tickets are purchased online. You can pay at the gate by card or cash on the night but prices will be adults £6, concessions £4 and under 13’s £2 and children £1, over 80’s free.

It would be good to see a big crowd supporting our youngsters against the National League giants.

AVERAGE ATTENDANCE LEAGUE TABLE
Hitchin are currently tenth in the Southern League Central Division average attendance league table.

1 Stourbridge 679
2 Bromsgrove Sporting 669
3 Ilkeston Town 631
4 Nuneaton Borough 595
5 Tamworth 582
6 Stratford Town 544
7 Bedford Town 517
8 Hednesford Town 515
9 Coalville Town 489
10 HITCHIN TOWN 415
11 AFC Rushden & Diamonds 367
12 Alvechurch 315
13 Barwell 314
14 Redditch United 297
15 Basford United 297
16 Royston Town 294
17 Rushall Olympic 289
18 Mickleover 273
19 Needham Market 226
20 St Ives Town 225
21 Leiston 218
22 Kings Langley 216

ACADEMY UPDATE BY MICHAEL JONES
Open Training Session for Year 11, 12, 13

On Monday 24th October we have our first open training session to recruit players for the 23-24 season.
The session will take place at The Arena, Norton Road, Baldock, Hertfordshire, SG7 5AU on the all-weather pitch between 12noon – 2pm.

For further information or to register your interest please click on this link – https://www.northhertsarena.co.uk/next-trial-dates

FA YOUTH CUP
On Thursday 13th October we host national league side Chesterfield FC in the FA Youth Cup 3rd Qualifying Round. Please come down and support the young Canaries in their quest to reach the First Round Proper. Tickets can be purchased online via the club website.

HTWFC UPDATE BY KARLA CHAFFEY
Hitchin Town Women were back in league action last Sunday. The Firsts were at home to Oaklands a team they have never played before and the Canaries were away to Buntingford. It’s nice to have a player for a change write the report from their view.

We shall start with the Firsts; this is what player D. Coughlan-Flood had to say:

Hitchin were slow to start, conceding within the first 10 minutes after Nemeth made a diving save, parrying the ball out for an unmanned Oaklands forward to slot it in.

Keeping heads up, Hitchin began passing the ball around creating space and multiple attacking opportunities, narrowly missing the bottom corner just before half time.

The second half commenced, and Hitchin were quick to attack. A beautiful ball in from Darling to the centre of the goal found S. Coughlan-Flood, with a glancing header over the keeper and slipping just under the bar. The game was end to end, with a particularly big shift being put in by Miles on the right, continuously tracking back to help the defence, before making driving runs up the wing. A corner was awarded to Hitchin and Day put in a central ball for Darling to head it down past the keeper, 2-1. Oaklands were quick to respond however after and a goal attempt was called offside. Hitchin again pushed up the pitch and were awarded another corner. Darling delivered another great ball, with Day flying into the box headfirst to put away Hitchin’s third and final goal of the game. A scrappy final 15 from both sides led to a second goal for Oaklands, but the entire team pulled together to ensure no third goal was conceded, with some strong challenges being enforced by Huffer before clearing the ball to safety.

Final score 3-2 to Hitchin.’

The Canaries report was done by manager Jamie Smith, this is what he had to say:

The sun was shining on a lovely Sunday afternoon and the pitch looked great and we were all set. The game started quickly with Buntingford putting on early pressure from the start. This paid off with 2 early goals. 2-0 Buntingford. This opened up play a bit and it made the Canaries switch on. We started to find our feet and combine well. Chances fell for H. Edwards, Chaffey and Colyer but unfortunately, they could not find the back of the net. A blatant foul on Colyer in the box was waved away by the referee and he said it was just accidental.

After half-time both teams played some great football with both keepers keeping their team in the game. After some great build up play the ball fell to C. Edwards who ran round the outside of the defence to slot it home to make it 2-1.

This woke both teams up with the game now getting more competitive. A Buntingford player dramatically fell to the floor and a very soft penalty was given. 3-1. This killed the game off and the Canaries could not find a way back Well done Buntingford on the win and many thanks for hosting us and we go again next week.

Players player – Armstrong

Managers player – Cracknell’

I would also like to say a massive well done to April Spang who ran the London Marathon on the day. A huge congratulations to her and for raising so much money for the charity Mind who do a lot for those in crisis. Mind also assists those in our emergency services with ongoing support to what they see and deal with each day. I applaud them for their continued efforts to keep us all safe and well. It’s fantastic to see that April will be heading into work wearing green the next day to respond to incidents that require her services. Terrific work April.

FIXTURES

Beds & Herts Women’s Football League, League Cup, Round One
HTWFC Firsts v Wormley Rovers Ladies
EB Lions AFC Ladies v HTWFC Canaries

Keep up to date with all the live scores & fixtures, Twitter @HitchinTownWFC or on Facebook, Hitchin Town Womens’ FC

We are currently recruiting new sponsors to help us cement our future. We are looking for sponsors to help us develop a women’s club to be the best in Hertfordshire. Please get in touch for further information.

BY ROY IZZARD