Hitchin Town Football Club
Founded 1865, Reformed 1928
Tough hurdle with the Daniels awaits Salton
Friday, February 2 2007
After losing four of their first five games of 2007, Hitchin face one of the Southern League front runners when they travel to Stamford on Saturday.
The Daniels are one of the league’s dark horses this season and are currently in second place. Hitchin beat them earlier this season, but things have changed since the two sides last met.
Canaries manager Darren Salton is looking to Hitchin’s fans to help get his players through what has become a very sticky patch. “The lads have still got their self belief, but they need a little help to get through this,” said Salton.
But Salton has been disappointed with some personal abuse on certain Hitchin players. “Supporters pay their money, so they can say what they like in the ground, but there have been pre-meditated attacks on one or two of my players which are unnecessary and very demotivating,” says Salton. “We are a small club, we like to think of ourselves as a community, and when an individual attacks a player in a very abusive manner, it hurts. The hypocrisy of it is that later on, that abuser may well mingle with the same player at the club. It is not like we have thousands of people in a crowd- there is no anonymity, so we all know each other well and we should all try and help the team through this bad spell.”
Salton is aware that his team has a tough afternoon ahead. “I know I keep saying it, but every game is hard in this league and there is little consistency among the results. We have been through a bad patch and we are one point off the play-offs. In any other season, this may have not be the case. We can get out of this spell and hopefully, when we do, we can pick up where we left off in December.”