WEEKLY BULLETIN FROM ROY

FIXTURES
Saturday 16 February away to Barwell League kick off 3.0pm. Coach leaves at 10.30am.
Tuesday 19 February home to Royston Town Herts Charity Cup SF kick off 7.45pm. Prices for this game have been reduced to £6 for adults, £4 for concessions and £2 for teenagers. There is a further £1 deduction if tickets are purchased online.

PLAYER NEWS

• We have extended Noah Chesmain’s loan from Colchester United for a further month.
• Ezra Forde has yet to start training and will be out for at least two weeks.
• Alex Anderson has yet to start training and will be out for at least two weeks.
• Scott Belgrove is available for the Barwell game.
• Jay Dowie has recovered from a knock he took at Coalville and is available for Barwell.

GORDON BANKS TRIBUTE
For tomorrow’s game at Barwell Michael Johnson will wear a special blue number 1 shirt in memory of Gordon Banks who passed away this week. This means Michael will be playing in the same colours as Banks did when he made ”that save of all time” from Pele in the 1970 World Cup game against Brazil. The intention is to auction this unique shirt for charity as happened with The Royal British Legion Solihull Moors shirts. Further details will follow.

HITCHIN TOWN UNDER 19’S
The academy side were without a fixture this week. They do not have a game next week either due to half term.

HITCHIN TOWN LADIES FC
These are the remaining fixtures of the season:

Sunday 17th February 2019 = Sharnbrook v HTLFC – 13:30 kick off, Round Two of Chris Renshaw Cup, Lodge Road, Sharnbrook, MK44 1JP
Sunday 24th February 2019 = Royston v HTLFC – 14:00, Division Two, Barkway Recreation Ground, Barkway, Royston
Sunday 3rd March 2019 = Quarter Finals – Chris Renshaw Cup
Sunday 10th March 2019 = Watton v HTLFC – 14:00, Division Two, Nigel Poulton Centre, School Lane, Watton-at-stone
Sunday 17th March 2019 = Evergreen Ladies v HTLFC – 14:00, Division Two, Offley Recreation Centre
Sunday 24th March 2019 = Wheathampstead v HTLFC – 14:00, Division Two, Marford Road, Playing Fields, Wheathampstead AL4 8AY
Sunday 7th April 2019 = HTLFC v Evergreen Eagles First – 14:00, Division Two, Offley Recreation Centre
Sunday 14th April 2019 = HTLFC v Hitchin Belles Ladies – 14:00, Division Two, Offley Recreation Centre
Sunday 28th April 2019 = Letchworth Garden City Eagles Ladies v HTLFC – 14:00, Division Two, LGCE Football Club, Baldock Road, Letchworth Garden City

EJA NEWS
There were just two matches for our EJA teams last weekend as the U13s and U18s fell victims to the weather.

Our U16s were away to Grays Athletic in an EJA U16 League fixture and came back with all three points following a fine 3-1 win. They are now just one point off third place and seven points off second placed Hemel Hempstead Town with four games in hand.

Our U14s were away in the EJA U14 Challenge Cup to AFC Hornchurch and were taken to extra time before coming away with a deserved 2-1 win to progress into the quarter finals. Two goals from Teague Gardiner were enough to see off a spirited Hornchurch team on a boggy pitch in windy conditions, which seemed to suit our opponent’s long ball game.
The winning goal came in the second half of extra time and led to some distasteful scenes on the pitch with the referee having to step in and issue two yellow cards and a red. Hitchin will now face Bishops Stortford in the quarter final on 24th February.

There is a full programme of fixtures for our EJA teams this weekend.

The U14s kick off the action on Friday 15th February with a home game at Top Field in the EJA Midweek Cup versus Bury Town EJA, 7:30pm kickoff. They are at home again on Sunday, this time at Ickleford Sports & Recreation Club in an EJA League match versus Ware FC, kick off 10:30am.

The U13s are at home to Cambridge City on Sunday in a league fixture at The Arena Baldock, kick off 2pm.

The U16s and U18s are both in cup action on Sunday. The U16s are away at Hampstead Stags in the London FA U16 Challenge Cup semi finals whilst the U18s entertain Concord Rangers in the U18 EJA Ingilby Cup at North Herts College, Hitchin, kick off 11am.

NICK CARR

NORTH HERTS FM
North Herts FM will be in Leicestershire on Saturday 16 Feb 2019 to bring you live commentary of the Evostik Southern Premier League Central fixture between Barwell FC and Hitchin Town FC.

Freddie Cardy and Brian Gray will be your hosts bringing you full, live commentary as the Leicestershire Canaries host the Hertfordshire Canaries with the programme commencing at 2:45pm.

Please note if you listen via the link on the Supporters Section of the Hitchin Town FC website or by going directly to the North Herts FM website, please select the ‘North Herts FM Extra’ channel in the top right hand corner to listen to the commentary as the North Herts FM channel will be playing scheduled music programmes.

A direct link to the ‘North Herts FM Extra’ channel is available by copying the link below into your internet browser: https://northhertsextra.radioca.st/stream

If you listen via the North Herts FM App on a mobile device, a new North Herts FM Android App is available to download from the Play Store which will give access to the North Herts FM Extra channel however if you listen on an Apple mobile device, a new Apple App is still being developed and will not ready in time for Saturday’s game. To get the football commentary via an Apple mobile device, go to the internet and paste or type the direct link into your browser. Alternatively, you can go to the North Herts FM web page (link below) and select the Extra Channel in the top right hand corner.

MANAGER’S NOTES WITH MARK BURKE

COALVILLE TOWN
Saturday saw us travel to Coalville and I thought the energy and creative play of the home side in the first half were the best I have seen this season. We were fortunate not to concede two or three goals before the first goal was scored, although we did create a couple of chances of our own and were unlucky when Isaac Galliford hit the post.

Having created a number of chances to score it was actually our poor defending that saw Coalville open the scoring. However I felt they would not be able to sustain the tempo that they had created in the first half in to the second half and if we had gone in 1-0 down I was confident we would be able to take the game to them. Unfortunately we conceded a second poorly defended goal right on the stroke of half time which was reminiscent of the Kettering game earlier in the season.

We continued to battle in the second half but again conceded two goals that were preventable. At 4-0 you could see that Coalville were visibly tired from their exertions but they had reaped the rewards for their efforts. The only consolation from the game was the fact that we did fight to the end and at least scored a consolation goal.

To conclude I was very impressed with Coalville and will not be surprised if they feature in the play-offs and this was backed up with their 2-0 victory at Stratford on Tuesday.

BARWELL
It is important we come back from Barwell with some reward as they are within striking distance of us in the league table with us five points behind but with two games in hand. It will not be an easy game but I am confident that our players remain in positive mood and will be determined to return with a win.

ROYSTON TOWN
The Herts Charity Cup game with Royston Town on Tuesday represents our last chance of silverware this season. Therefore we will go all out to win the match so that we can look forward to a final at the end of the season.

ROY IZZARD