Saturday 21st January 2023
UHLSPORT UNITED COUNTIES LEAGUE – PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH
MARCH TOWN UNITED v COGENHOE UNITED
Robingoodfellows Lane,
March,
Cambs.
PE15 8HS
KO 3pm
First things first, will the game go ahead, in truth we won’t know until tomorrow. The temperature will peak at 5 degrees in the Cambridgeshire town this afternoon, but will drop to -3 again overnight. By noon on Saturday it will be +4 which is positive so the only issue may be any areas of the pitch that won’t feel the warmth of the sunshine. I don’t remember too much about their ground having only been there once and that was at least 25 years ago, but I do remember a large stand that could be an issue if it is facing the wrong way.
The Hares have traditionally been an Eastern Counties League side and were only moved to the UCL in the latest F.A reshuffle in the summer of 22, but they certainly enjoyed their start to life in the new league, but have dropped away a little since. The still occupy 7th place at this moment which is pretty decent and will be hoping to finish higher than the 10th place they achieved in the Thurlow Nunn (ECL) Premier Division last season. Incidentally my previous trip to RGF Lane saw them beat Mildenhall Town 2-0 in the League Cup with the visitors rock bottom of Division One at the time and in truth it was one of those games that you forget pretty quickly. I do remember liking the ground though and will be interested to see how much it has changed over the years.
Recent times have seen the Hares lose their way a little, with their last home win being back in October when they recorded a 3-1 victory over Bugbrooke, although they have since defeated Newmarket Town 2-0 at RGF Lane, but that was in the Cambridgeshire F.A Invitation Cup. Their game was off last weekend, but the Fens and it’s traditionally good drainage saw them become one of very few teams to host a games in the league seven days previous, although they may have wished they hadn’t as they were beaten 2-1 by struggling Lutterworth Town. Jack Friend scoring their goal, his 13th of the campaign leaving him one behind Craig Gillies.
The Cooks at least got some game-time in last Saturday when they played Sileby in a friendly on the 3G at Moulton College and some of the Diamonds U23 players also got in some match-action on Monday when they beat West Ham United Development 9-1 with our very own Pharrell Anderson bagging himself a hat-trick. If this game goes ahead, it will be the Cooks first of the year with their previous outing being the 1-1 home draw against Wellingborough on Boxing Day, which was almost a month ago now. Scott Carlin has furthered added to his squad with the signings of left sided centre-back Perry Ronayne from Southern League club Kempston Rovers, plus Bailey Weatherly, a powerful attacking player who has always impressed against us when playing for Bugbrooke St Michaels. Bailey came through the Cobblers FEP scheme and has also played for AFC Rushden & Diamonds, whilst Perry came through the Kempston Rovers Colts to make it to the first team where has gained experience at step four.
New Signings Perry Ronayne (top) and Bailey Weatherly. Both could feature in tomorrow’s trip to the fens.
One possible absentee tomorrow will be your match reporter/photographer who is currently battling against a virus with the help of several £££’s worth of pharmacy drugs, so a late fitness test tomorrow morning will be required before setting off.
NORTHANTS F.A LES UNDERWOOD JUNIOR CUP – 3RD ROUND
COGENHOE UNITED RESERVES v WITTERING PREMIAIR
3G Pitch,
Holcot Centre at Moulton College,
Pitsford Rd,
Moulton,
NN3 7SX
KO 3-pm
Please note this game has been switched to Moulton College, address as above.
Ian Adcock’s team will be hoping the weather allows them to finally play their first game of the year as they host Peterborough League Premier Division club Wittering Premiair. The Cooks last game was over six weeks ago when they hammered Kempston Rovers 6-1, but they will need to shake off the rust if they are going to progress in the county cup. That isn’t the case for Wittering though as the weather towards the east has been far less harsh and they have played in both the previous two Saturday’s. They are struggle somewhat in the league and lost both those games, against sides around them in the lower reaches of their division. A 2-1 defeat at Tydd saw Tom Smith on target, then last weekend they went down 2-1 to Stamford Belvedere with Andrew Moss claiming their goal. To reach this round they won 2-0 at our UCL rivals Desborough Town Reserves with Moss and Spencer Haskin earning them the right to play us. The winners of this tie will face Joe Rich’s Kettering Nomads away in the quarter-final.
The Cooks have a few players cup-tied after playing for Biff in the Senior Cup, but I have noticed a few new names on our squad-list on Full-Time, so there may be some changes from the team that last played seven weeks ago.
