Saturday 13th April 2024
UNITED COUNTIES LEAGUE – PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH
HISTON v COGENHOE UNITED
Bridge Road Stadium,
Bridge Rd,
Impington,
Cambs.
KO 3-pm
The Cooks round off their season with a trip to Histon FC tomorrow, with the future of the club looking so much more promising than this time last week when it really did appear that this could be the club’s last ever game. There is still a lot of work to do, but secretary Jon Wright is working hard to bring in new investment and is confident that this can secured and the Cooks will not only kick-off next season, but also be in a healthy position to push on to a bright future. An updates and future statements will appear as and when on the club’s social media.
Back to the present and a trip to the very impressive Bridge Road Stadium which featured in the Conference and hosted some big days in the F.A Cup no so long ago awaits with our hosts sitting in eleventh, three places above the Cooks going into the game. This should have been the final day of the season, but Easington Sports are amongst the teams who have failed to finish on time with Histon heading their next weekend, so although we would move above them with a win, they would still have one game to go. They had finished sixth last season, their first in the UCL, but got off to a bad start this time around and were bottom early on, but a change in management has seen an upturn in fortunes on the field. They signed Luke Bullement from us a few weeks ago and he has made seven appearances to date for the Stutes after scoring once in fourteen games for the Cooks.
The Stutes recent form has been a little inconsistent, but in similar fashion to us they have lost twice against teams fighting for their step five status but beaten sides higher up the league. Four wins from their last six including a great 3-2 win at home to Aylestone Park have been dampened by a 1-3 home defeat to now relegated Desborough Town and this midweek a 5-1 thrashing at Leicester Nirvana in their last outing. In a game switched to the 3G surface at Kirby Muxloe, a much-changed Nirvana were 3-0 up before the break with Orrin Carter-Fell, Greg Mills and Daryl Russell all on target and despite the fact that Connor Barnes reduced the arrears just after the hour, Shaquille Master came off the bench to add a late brace for the home side. This was the second successive 5-1 scoreline for the Stutes, but they enjoyed the trip to Godmanchester Rovers a lot more last Saturday as goals from Matt Hayden, former Diamonds skipper Jake Kerrins, Babacar Camara, Max York and Barnes saw them home comfortably. They obviously prefer playing on an allotment to a 3G.
The game at Compton Park this season ended in a 1-1 draw with both goals coming after the break. York had given the visitors the advantage on 58 minutes, but Dylan Wilson earned the Cooks a point with the equaliser eleven minutes from time. Last season’s trip to Bridge Road came just four days after the Stutes had beaten us 3-0 at Compton Park, but this tale was a rather different one. Ben Gough’s 15th minute penalty put the Cooks ahead and Louis Barrett squeezed home a second from a tight angle six minutes later and things were looking great for the Cooks, but skipper Paddy Cichosz picked up his second yellow card on 69 minutes and three minutes later Ryan Towner pulled one back and they eventually broke down the ten men to salvage a point through York a minute into stoppage time.
Scott Carlin has named nineteen-strong squad ahead of the game with Cobblers duo Matty Ireland and Josh Rayfield available as their team doesn’t have a fixture this weekend, while Sham Bako is also named in addition to the sixteen that travelled to Aylestone Park and picked up a memorable last minute victory against the team that had occupied second place before the game. The Cooks are looking to end the season on areal high having won their previous two games, a 1-0 home win over Newport Pagnell Town on Easter Monday followed by that dramatic last-minute winner from Jack Connor that gave them a 4-3 win in Leicester on Saturday. Kai Fifield had opened the scoring direct from a free-kick and Sonny Knights struck twice in a topsy-turvy game that thoroughly entertained the crowd on a very windy day in the city.
Sonny Knights scored twice in the win at Aylestone Park.
Leading scorer Jack Connor will be hoping to add to his tally after an impressive first season in senior football after leaving the Cobblers.
Luke Bullement will be lining up for the opposition tomorrow.
