Hitchin Town Football Club
Founded 1865, Reformed 1928
Media circus could await Hitchin at Merthyr
Friday, February 17 2006
The possibility of former England midfielder Paul Gascoigne taking charge of Merthyr Tydfil could transform Hitchin’s trip to Wales into a media circus.
Darren Salton’s men could also find a bigger than normal crowd will welcome them to Penydarren Park, despite Merthyr’s recent form. The Martyrs have not won for seven games, and their recent home form has been poor, with three draws and a defeat in four games.
Last week, Merthyr drew at home with struggling Gloucester while Hitchin went down narrowly to Bath City. Merthyr are just above the Canaries in the league table.
Hitchin will be keen to get a good result after one point from two games. The 2-1 defeat at Bath has failed to dampen Darren Salton’s confidence, however. “We are competing with these teams now and we ran Bath a close second, despite of being reduced to 10 men,” he said. “If Gazza is at Merthyr, this will add to the occasion and our players may get a taste of the big game atmosphere.”
Hitchin are still without Josh Sozzo, who completes his two match suspension. Liam Folds is also absent through suspension.