FIXTURES
Saturday 24 November home to Coalville League kick off 3.00pm.
Wednesday 28 November home to Hemel Hempstead Herts Senior Cup kick off 7.45pm. The admission prices have been reduced to £6, £4 and £2 for this game with a further £1 reduction if ticket bought online.

PLAYER NEWS

  • Edwin Mensah starts a 2 game suspension on Saturday so will miss the Coalville and Barwell games.
  • Alex Anderson hopes to return on Saturday but will face a fitness test.
  • Isaac Galliford left the pitch after an hour against Leiston through injury and will have a fitness test ahead of the Coalville game.
  • New signing Matt Nolan will be in the squad for the Coalville game.

HITCHIN TOWN UNDER 19’S
The academy team beat Windsor 3-1 at the Arena on Wednesday

NEW DUGOUTS ON THE WAY
We are pleased to announce that this week the Football Stadia Improvement Fund have given formal authorisation for us to proceed with installation of the new dugouts. The FSIF provide 70% of the funding and we will be responsible for the remaining 30% which will amount to several thousand pounds. The current dugouts are very much on their last legs and urgently need replacing.

The order has been placed but the work will probably commence in January. Other improvements in the ground and clubhouse will follow as we will be looking to use our FA Cup profits to improve facilities.

PAY WHAT YOU WANT
The home match with Barwell on Saturday 1 December will be the latest of our pay what you want games. They have proved very popular and are a way for new supporters to see a game at an affordable price. We hope that many of the new supporters who came to the Solihull game will return to Top Field to watch a league game. We will make a contribution to the Young Minds charity which is fighting for young people’s mental health from the donations we receive.

Please spread the word about this pay what you want game. It would be great to see a bumper attendance and we can hopefully gain new followers for the future.

LETCHWORTH FOODBANK
Please see the story of our partnership with Letchworth Foodbank on the club website. I hope you are able to support this worthy cause and can bring along some donations to one of our home games before Christmas.

FAIR PLAY LEAGUE
Before Saturday’s game Hitchin were top of the League’s Fair Play Table with 54 points. Bedworth are bottom with 164 points. While we have played fewer games than most of our rivals our discipline has been improved this season. A lack of any member of the Donnelly clan currently playing may have helped!

CCS LEAGUE CUP
If we overcome Biggleswade we have been drawn at home to Lowestoft in the third round.

EX-PLAYERS AT THE SOLIHULL GAME
To add to the 27 ex players I named last week I have been told Jose Wishaw and Hugh Pratt were also at the game.

MANAGER’S NOTES WITH MARK BURKE

STOURBRIDGE
Saturday saw us face the tough trip to Stourbridge the joint leaders of the league who were unbeaten at home since April. Overall I was very happy with our performance and in particular the first half which I felt we shaded.

I was disappointed with the way we conceded the first goal as we were caught napping and were punished by a quickly taken free kick. However we responded positively and continued to take the game to Stourbridge.

The story of our league season was encapsulated in the last ten minutes. Firstly Dan Webb headed against the underside of the bar but the ball did not cross the line and then shortly after being reduced to ten men we were punished with two late goals that gave a very flattering scoreline to Stourbridge.

After the game a number of Stourbridge supporters told me they could not believe our position in the table and offered comfort by saying we would not get relegated.. While it was nice to hear these comments it is down to us to make sure we prove them right and get out of trouble.

LEISTON
It was great to see the return of Matt Lench for this game. With his character he helped to lift the atmosphere in the dressing room and this was transferred in to our first half performance as we created a number of chances and deservedly led 1-0 at half time.

The second half saw Leiston raise their game and this coupled with the enforced replacement of Isaac Galliford through injury had an effect on our play. We conceded two soft goals that could have been defended better and were fortunate when a Leiston striker nearly made it 3-1. However we showed tremendous character and fought to the end and got our just reward of the equaliser deep in to injury time.

COALVILLE
We entertain Coalville on Saturday. They are currently tenth in the league table with games in hand. This will be our first meeting with Coalville and I am looking forward to what I hope will be an exciting game. Please keep up the excellent support you have been providing and the players are determined to turn things round in the league.

HEMEL HEMPSTEAD
On Wednesday we have a respite from league action as we meet Hemel Hempstead in the Herts Senior Cup. We have a good record in this competition and want to progress but Hemel will provide a tough challenge. I It will be strange to see Matt Spring on the opposition bench in his new role as assistant manager of Hemel. If we beat Hemel we will be away to Boreham Wood or St Margaretsbury in the quarter finals.

ROY IZZARD