Saturday 26th November 2022
UHLSPORT UNITED COUNTIES LEAGUE – PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH
COGENHOE UNITED v COVENTRY SPHINX
Compton Park,
Brafield Rd,
Cogenhoe.
NN7 1ND
KO 3-pm
The Cooks face a tough game on Saturday as they host in-form Coventry Sphinx who currently occupy second spot in the league, four points behind leaders Rugby Town having played a game less. They are also still in the F.A Vase and the Birmingham Senior Cup and have loads to play for still as we approach the winter months. They have won eight of their last ten games in all competitions since a shock 0-1 reverse at bottom club Rothwell Corinthians and their last outing saw them come from behind to beat Milton Irish 4-1 in Coventry. Three goals in five second half minutes swung that game as leading scorer Callum Stewart took his seasonal tally to 16 with a brace, with Louis Guest and Jordan Hayward also finding the back of the net. Stewart bagged 40 last season and is on target to match that as we have yet to reach the half-way point of the season, but more importantly they will be targeting on beating the fourth place they managed in their inaugural season in the UCL.
We have met just once here before, early last season, with the visitors putting on a very strong second half display to beat us 3-0. Ryan Harkin opened the scoring two minutes after the break, Josh Willis added a second on 77 and Stewart joined in adding a late third. 0-3 was maybe a little harsh on the Cooks, but there was no denying that Sphinx had deserved all three points from their first trip to Compton Park.
Their recent form is very good as the win over the Irish followed on from a 3-0 away win at Eccleshall in the F.A Vase, which had been preceded by back to back 4-0 away successes at Romulus (Birmingham Senior Cup) and Bugbrooke St Michaels in the league. Incidentally 12 of those 15 goals came in the second half so they certainly finish games strongly even if they have taken a little while to get going.
The Cooks three match winning streak came to an end in controversial circumstances at Newport Pagnell Town last weekend as we ended up on the wrong end of a 1-3 scoreline against a very strong team who have title ambitions of their own, but with numerous players unavailable, our lads could hold their heads up high and were in the game right up until we conceded our third penalty of the game deep into stoppage time.
NORTHANTS F.A LES UNDERWOOD JUNIOR CUP – 2ND ROUND
SPRATTON v COGENHOE UNITED RESERVES
Spratton Sports & Social Club,
Smith Street,
Spratton.
NN6 8HW
KO 2-pm
The Reserves kick-off their county cup campaign with a trip to Northants Combination Premier Division side Spratton on the back of two home draws in the league. Last weekend they held Desborough Town to a draw after recording the same result seven days previous against Raunds Town, with recent signing Dan Webb scoring both of the Cooks’ goals.
Things didn’t go particularly well for Spratton last Saturday though as they were sent home with their tails between their legs following an 8-0 thrashing at Joe Rich’s Kettering Nomads. Former Cook Jack Wisniewski bagged a hat-trick in that game, as did Jake Bettles who featured in our first friendly game of this season and also featured in pre-season a couple of years back when he bagged a brace at Moulton. Spratton will be hoping this result was just a blip as the previous week they had beaten Corby Pegasus 3-2 at Smith Street and their form hasn’t been at all bad in truth. One player familiar to the Cooks will be Glen Giles who has played against us many times during his time between the sticks for Harborough Town, although he may be a little shell-stocked after his afternoon in Isham.
