THE MANAGER

Good afternoon and a very warm welcome to Foxcotte Park for what I know is the most eagerly anticipated fixture of the season.

We know today’s game will be a tough challenge and to their manager Ron Bertie, I extend the welcome to, along with his squad and all that have made the shortest journey to the game today.

Since we were last at home, nearly a month ago, we continued our promotion push with hard-fought victory over Millbrook. The scoreline may have read 6-1, but we were fortunate at times, after making a great start Ben Rodwell had to make a couple of crucial saves at 2-1 and we also had to weather the storm with ten men, when Scotty Hassell was sin binned!

Credit to the players as they kept going and took our opportunities when Millbrook were reduced to ten, shortly after Scotty returned to the field. Cooky continued his fine goalscoring form and Mikey Davis completed the scoring with a fine free kick late on.

We then travelled to Folland Sports, who have always made life difficult for us over the last few seasons. This time was a totally different story with the lads putting in one of the best displays of the season. We were dominant from start to finish and perhaps could have had even more than the five goals scored that evening.

We then travelled to Amesbury and put in a good performance, despite losing Paddy to a red card, with Macca proving to be an excellent back-up keeper.

A 1-1 draw at Petersfield was a fair result, although we were disappointed to concede from a set play from Petersfield’s only real opportunity. We have then picked up maximum points from trips to Ash United and Tuesdays visit to Fleetlands.

Results elsewhere have seen us move to the top of the table and that’s where I want us to stay for the remainder of the season.

We still have some way to go, starting with this afternoon’s match, The chasing pack won’t give up the fight and so won’t we.

We would not be in this position without the support of our sponsors, and I’d like to welcome them all here today and thank them for their continued support.

You know that you will play a huge part this afternoon as our 12th man. Let’s make the ground rock, give it everything you’ve got, and I can guarantee you that every player in our squad and all the staff will be doing exactly the same. Enjoy the game.