ONE FIXTURE
Saturday 6 April home to St Neots League kick off 3pm.

At about 2.40pm Michael Johnson will present a cheque for £250 to the chairman of ManKind Initiative, this being the proceeds of the tribute Gordon Banks shirt auction.

There is no midweek fixture.

PLAYER NEWS

  • Lewis Ferrell will be assessed before the St Neots game after picking up an injury at Alvechurch.
  • Jay Bird will also be assessed before the St Neots game as he recovers from his recent concussion.
  • Max Ryan is injured and will miss the St Neots game.
  • Noah Chesmain has joined Hungerford on loan from Colchester. The deal was done at 3.30pm on transfer deadline day and by all accounts Noah had an excellent debut last Saturday.

ALFIE CUE DEPARTS
Unfortunately, whilst Alfie Cue remains registered with the Club it is unlikely that he will feature again this season. He is unable to drive and relies on a lift to get to training and matches. He travels all the way from South London and it has proved very difficult for him to commit and therefore he has decided to leave the Club. We would like to thank Alfie for his contribution this season.

HTFC – A TRUE COMMUNITY CLUB
I have written a special article outlining the community and charitable work undertaken by the club over the past four years. It will go online on Sunday and I think you will be surprised at just how many good causes we have helped.

PAST PLAYERS AT TOP FIELD
You will remember how many ex Canaries attended the Solihull game and in recent weeks the trend has continued. Gary Sisman, Hugh Pratt, Ian Donnelly, Brett Donnelly, Liam Brooks, Luke Donnelly, Carl Williams, Ken Gillard, Will Wright, Ian Lindsay, Peter Clark, Peter Watson and Robin Wainwright have been to Top Field while Steve Shea is coming to the St Neots game.

IMPROVEMENTS UPDATE
Work has continued on the roof but at least a further week is needed to complete the job.

THE COMET
We have all been disappointed at the complete lack of coverage of Hitchin Town FC in the Comet on a number of occasions recently and when there has been coverage it has been minimal. I can assure supporters the Comet receive a copy of my weekly bulletin and have full access to our match reports. Unfortunately we cannot make any demands as the sports editor alone decides what to include but I can only suggest supporters write in or email the Comet to express their displeasure.

HITCHIN TOWN UNDER 19’S
The academy team were beaten 1-0 by Brentwood on Wednesday. They do not have a game next week.

HITCHIN TOWN LADIES FC
The Ladies are at home to Evergreen Ladies on Sunday 7 April kick off 2.00pm at Offley Recreation Ground.

EJA TEAM NEWS BY NICK CARR
Three of our EJA sides were in action last weekend and all faced tough opponents.

Our U18s faced top of the table Ware in a league fixture and went down to the only goal of the game in a very close contest.

In another league match our U16s faced second placed Hemel Hempstead Town and honours were shared in a goalless draw.

Our U14s were in cup semi final action again and made it through to the final of the EJA Challenge Cup with a fine 3-2 win away from home at form side Cheshunt. After taking the lead midway through the first half from a cool finish by Cathal Fee, the boys then found themselves trailing 2-1 at halftime following two defensive errors that led to scoring opportunities for their opponents which were gratefully accepted!

Some reassuring words from the coach at half time gave the boys the confidence to take the game to their opponents in the second half and two fabulous strikes from the edge of the penalty area from Brandon Owen gave them a 3-2 lead. Further chances came their way but the slender lead was enough and the boys deservedly saw out the game to the final whistle to progress to the final on Sunday, 14th April at Woodbridge Town FC against Concord Rangers.

This weekend our U14s are the only team in action and will need to make good use of the full squad with two tough away league fixtures to negotiate. On Friday they travel the short distance to Stotfold for a local derby under the lights at Roker Park, kickoff is 7:30pm. Then on Sunday they travel to Bishops Stortford for a 2:30pm kickoff.

It would be great if you could get along to either game to support the boys as they are still in the mix for the league title and your encouragement and support would certainly be appreciated.

COYY!!

NORTH HERTS FM
North Herts FM will be back at Top Field this Saturday 6 April 2019 to bring you live commentary of the Evostik Southern Premier League Central fixture between Hitchin Town FC and St Neots Town FC.

The North Herts FM Commentary Team of Annie Barnes, Freddie Cardy, Patrick Sloan and Brian Gray will be your hosts bringing you full, live commentary of Saturday’s game with the programme starting at 2:45pm.

You can tune in from 2:45pm by clicking here.

MANAGER’S NOTES WITH MARK BURKE

ALVECHURCH
We went with a game plan to try and frustrate Alvechurch and stop them from playing. We knew they were a good footballing team and in the early stages everything was going to plan. We were unfortunate to twice hit the bar with efforts from Isaac Galliford and Dan Webb while their goalkeeper made a great serve from Michael Cain. But then poor defending saw us concede two goals one on the stroke of half time.

We eventually came back well in the second half and got a goal back. We were on top and going for the equaliser when a harsh free kick was awarded against us which we defended poorly again and went 3-1 down. This decided the outcome of the game and it was frustrating that we had played some good football and matched Alvechurch but let ourselves down with the concession of soft goals.

ST NEOTS TOWN
On Saturday we have a local derby with our close rivals St Neots. They know they have to win to retain any chance of avoiding relegation and we can therefore expect a competitive game. We know that we only need one point to guarantee our own safety but will be going all out to get all three points. We want to finish as high in the table as possible and I am determined that we do not display the complacency that affected our performance against Bedworth.

Ahead of our next game against St. Neots Town, Betvictor Football have given us odds of 1/1 to win. Click here to sign up.
Please note, club players and staff cannot bet on football matches.

BY ROY IZZARD