PREVIEW: HINCKLEY AFC v BERKHAMSTED, FA VASE…
This game is surely one to relish…
Step 5 Berko visit Step 6 Hinckley AFC and with the home team in some really decent form, having won 14 of the last 17 fixtures in all competitions and the visitors passing through an indifferent stage recently. Berko have dropped to 8th in the Spartan South Midlands League, with 11 wins from 22 league games, losing 8, although they did beat Sun Sports last week on the road, by 0-3. Hinckley however have been scoring goals regularly and lead the division in goals scored: 70 from 18 league games, winning 13 of those matches and losing only 2. In a strong division, they will be in the promotion mix this season, against the likes of Leicester Road, Atherstone Town and the unbeaten Bromsgrove Sporting.
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| NEAT VIEW... |
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| NET VIEW... |
AFC’s main goalscorers have been prolific: RYAN SEAL has 34, PAUL SULLIVAN has netted 16 times and SAM AGAR has notched 13.
Berko’s top scorer is ASH CAMPBELL with 14, followed by ADAM MEAD with 10 and both ASH LEWIS & ALESSANDRO CAMPANA have 8…
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| CAMPBELL HAS SCORED v HULLBRIDGE... |
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| ...& OFFERS HANDSHAKES... |
Berko have played only 2 Vase games this season due to their fine record in the tournament recently. Oddly, I have witnessed both of those matches: a 5-2 home win against Hullbridge Sports and a 1-3 away victory at St Margaretsbury.
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| CANPBELL NETS @ ST MARGARETSBURY... |
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| ...& DULY GETS HUGGED... |
Hinckley though have battled through several games: a 0-2 win at Holbrook Sports, a 3-6 victory at Greenwood Meadows (next door to Dunkirk’s ground), a 3-1 win against Wolverhampton Sporting after extra-time, a 1-4 win at Paget Rangers and finally a fine result against Step 5 Quorn, 2-1 at home.
It is odd that Berko’s local rivals Tring Athletic are also in the Midlands for a Vase game this weekend, at Sporting Khalsa, one of the really good clubs I’ve visited…
All of the above suggests an attacking match and the Berko manager Tom Garratt has kindly sent me his preview, which follows below…
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| BERKO MANAGER TOM GARRATT... |
“Leading up to the Hinckley game we've been on an indifferent run. Performances have been good but results not so much. It's been a difficult time with people doubting what we're trying to do and how we're going about it but we believe and trust in our players, those that don't need to jump on board or move on.
We strongly believe in what we're doing at the club, sometimes change is difficult especially to those who are used to things being done in a certain way but we're not going to change our philosophy just because some results haven't gone our way. We had an excellent result away to Sun Sports last week and that didn't surprise me because this squad is a very talented bunch and we just finally got the result our performance deserved.
We know as much about Hinckley as we can do. I know the way they play, their danger-men and anyone can see their results have been outstanding this season, so confidence must be through the roof at the minute.
We need to go there with a game plan, be true to ourselves and work our absolute socks off to get a result out of it. People may look at the fact we're in a higher league but believe me, Hinckley are a very tough team to be drawn against. We need to be on our game and if so there'll be quite a game in store to look forward to.
I'm always confident with the players we've got and I'm confident we can go there and come back with a win. It should be a very special day for all those involved…”
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| MY LAST VISIT TO SEE HINCKLEY AT 'HOME'... |
HINCKLEY AFC CHAIRMAN STEVE JELFS PREVIEWS THE GAME...
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| STEVE SIGNS AS CHAIRMAN OF HINCKLEY AFC... |
That's not to disrespect Berkhamsted who will undoubtedly provide tough opposition tomorrow and who only bowed out of last season's competition to the eventual winners, but we're at home with a good crowd and large vocal support, so anything is possible..."
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